Black Farmers in Search of Justice Film

The web page has been live for several days. For those who have not seen it, here it is:

https://blackfarmersinsearchofjusticefilm.com/

If you hit that link, it'll take you to the web page for the documentary about Black farmers and their fight against the USDA.

Historically, Black farmers got the short end of the proverbial stick when it came to loans and services. Without loans, it is impossible to farm in these days. If what you need comes late into the planting system, the cycle starts and from there it never ends. Then, if you do get a loan and do not receive adequate support, advice, consultation, etc., as do the white farmers, then the cycle continues to deepen and deepen. 

However, when the loans come due, and they always come due, the plot thickens. Failure to assist in the farming business is hidden beneath layer upon layer of bureaucracy. The problem never is claimed by the FSA/USDA, local officials, county committee. The lack of transparency is blatantly obvious. Few if any of those who were guilty of discrimination ever lost their jobs. The farmers lost their land, but the USDA officials kept their jobs. In one situation that I heard about, an FSA county official was actually transferred to another county/parish, and then promoted to the state office. Inhumane!

This film chronicles in their own words and lived experiences the trauma of fighting, though winning, and the battle with the USDA. Fifteen Black farmers prevailed against the USDA between '97 and '99. Shoun and I interviewed nine of them. Some had died. Some simply did not want to be interviewed, and a couple had their own deals in the making. These are courageous people. Every single one of them. 

This web page will give you several things: 1) the intent of the film, 2) the trailer, 3) pictures and a few quotes of the farmers we interviewed, 4) videos of why we made the film and what we hope for it, and 5) information about us and how to contact us for what reasons. 

We are currently in search of a distributor. If you have any leads for us, please let us know. 

Light in the Darkness

The work that I do as an adviser to the USDA Coalition for Minority Employees, Justice for Black Farmer Group, developing the documentary along with Shoun Hill, and engaging in other ways within the Black Farmer Movement are so central to who I am as a human being that it is difficult to tease them out. My desire is to be a good ally in this work. 

Richard Rohr says that there are six types of liberation: inner, cultural, dogmatic, personal, spiritual, and liberation for "infinite mystery." His note on personal liberation from the "system" rings true, though he and I may see things differently. 

Then, at this time of the year, the season of Advent, we are focusing on light, the light that shines in darkness, the light of the world, the light that came into the world, the light which was the Christ child, and how our world did not understand it, and still has not yet responded to it, yet it is still there for our engagement. Yes, Jesus entered the world, and light shone all around Him, and the light shines on and in us to let us know where we can be cleansed, purified, and made righteous and justice oriented. 

How do these connect is the question of the morning. It is dark here in the neighborhood as I glance out the window. My desk lamp over to my right illuminates this room. Down on the street on the right, the neighbor's Christmas lights have shone all night and they dispel a bit of the darkness. In front of our house, we have a laser light that shines images that move at rapid speed on the outside of our house. Inside, we have various things that attract the grandchildren, the Christmas tree, the little stations that have lights inside them, the music box that they all love and claim for their own, and other displays that capture their imagination. 

The world of injustice in a dark world. Various offices that symbolize institutions of power and privilege overshadow the lives and efforts of Black farmers. The politics of the day is dark and foreboding as we anticipate the transition from one administration to another, and yet within the new administration that we are relatively optimistic about there is darkness. One of his nominees led an agency full of darkness that wounded people, overshadowed people, took the land away from people, left people bereft of their livelihood and identities, protected the brutality of the powerful against women employees. We could go on and on about the darkness. 

For me, there is great symbolism in the moment and the MOMENT of the Black Farmer Movement. I think it is no accident that we are advocating AGAINST a nominee at this particular time of the year. Sure, it is a part of the election and transition cycle of things. I am struck, however, by Advent. Advent shapes the protests in a different direction. We are not just working AGAINST a nominee. We are working FOR people who work for and are recipients of services and programs within that department. 

Not only do I need liberation from various thing like Rohr suggested, including myself, but there are many good people who deserve to be liberated from that which has held them enslaved since 1862. Lincoln's "the peoples' department" has become "the last plantation." The plantation is run predominately by white people appointed or hired by a white government with programs and services designed for white people. 

If indeed Jesus came to liberate us from our darkness, and to bring the true light into the world, then that is the cause of righteousness, the cause of advocacy, the cause of protest, the cause of demanding change at the highest levels of the land. 

So, I do not separate my faith as a human being from my work and engagement as an advocate. As I invite the Christ child into my world here in a week, I invite, no, I demand that institutions of power and privilege change and permit the light to shine in the darkness of their halls and smoke-filled, back room deliberations that marginalize generation after generation after generation of Black farmers and their families. 

That intersection of the light of the gospel and the darkness of institutions is the world in which I reside. It is oftentimes an uncomfortable place and space. At other times, it is one of immense joy and satisfaction. 

I invite both. To do otherwise would be less than human.