Let Justice Ring: Who Gets to Call Who What: Engaging or Exorcising ...

Let Justice Ring: Who Gets to Call Who What: Engaging or Exorcising ...: The whole name calling thing has been an obsession of mine for several weeks now. Recently, in an early morning read of the Jesus story, the...

My Sentiments as a Prayer

Dear Lord:

You gifted me with words
With words I come before you
With words I bow down
With words I confess my life askew.

When my soul is tormented 
When my spirit is vexed 
When my deepest longings are in disarray
I use words to say I’m much more than just perplexed.

When the wheels of justice grind slow
When the chains of death take my people
When hope is dashed upon the rocks
Sometimes I go to that place beneath the steeple.

I do not all of the time come with words
Sometimes I do not know what to say
With groans understood only by you
Is all I can find to pray.

“I Walked These Days” numbers 365
Blog posts with their words are 59
Prayers in the early morning come to 136
Sometimes they’re prose and sometimes they rhyme.

I’ve sat in many a zoom-like meetings
I’ve written many a first draft letters
My recommendations are even in the Justice Act
Sometimes my words bind me like fetters.

Only you know the focus of many a prayer 
Only you know the many unspoken words
Only you move in ways I do not know
Only you know the burdens our people bear.

Congress sits in places of power
USDA hides behind its doors
Perturb their hearts and shake their bones
And settle the long unanswered scores.

Come into this world I pray
Take off the racist chains
Remove the burdens of dreams deferred
While there is life within our bones.

And so this prayer
Has a lot of words
Beneath are so many groans
That reveal the ache hidden deep within our bones.

Still in You we do trust
Come what may and come what will
Even when you are silent
Even then our hearts will not be still.

Amen

Is Jesus Coming This Year? Reflections on Birth, Loss, and Expectations Unfulfilled

Is Jesus coming this year? It's that time of the year. The 25th is upon us. At church tonight we'll have a candle light service with the traditional songs and readings. My wife and I have watched a few Christmas television shows, Hallmark and all, as well as the history of the song "Silent Night" for the second, or maybe third year in a row. It never gets old. 

Something, though, is different this year. It's difficult to enter into the season's joy when the vicissitudes of life pinch, pull, and poke. Yes, when a divorce is happening in the family, that impacts us all, children, parents soon to be exes, grandparents on both sides, cousins, and aunts and uncles, and friends on both sides. The Christmas tree is up. Presents were wrapped. The three (one I've yet to see face to face, though her grandmother has) walk in with joy and wonder. They walk about the house, looking and touching, and remembering favorite things from last year or the year before. They were here for a few days and then gone again. Within those few days, there were moments of grace, reading to the two year old, hugging and talking to the four year old, and cooking breakfast and watching Mr. A. Game with the six year old. The breakfast was a long time coming and it had to be deconstructed from an egg-o. Took me a while, but we made it. 

Augustine and the Apostle Paul talk about the divided self, and that's what I have with these children and Christmas. Many of you know exactly what I mean. 

That, however, is only part of my wondering as to whether Jesus is coming this year. There is a second one, a large second one. 

Back earlier this year, and back into 2020, and even 2019, we anticipated a Christmas present, so to speak, for African American farmers. "Christmas present" is used facetiously because it really is about justice, at least a modicum of it, being served. Debt relief was in the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 and then 2021, and then it was skillfully placed within the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. We had been led to believe that there were 17,000 Black farmers who would receive debt relief. Come to realize, though, there are only 3,200 or so Black farmers who MIGHT receive debt relief. 

The criteria demand that the farmer has previously received a direct loan. That is a steep hill to climb since many Black farmers had been ruled out of receiving loans of any sort, direct or guaranteed. When we look at the latest census data and realize that there are fewer than 45,000 or so Black farmers, and to realize that only 3,200 of them even qualify for debt cancellation, that is a bitter pill to swallow. 

Another bitter pill to swallow, which makes Christmas a little gloomier this year, is the fact that Secretary Vilsack had about 100 days to get the debts cancelled. Then, unbeknownst to only the most blind of us, white farmers of our country filed frivolous and racist lawsuits which stopped debt cancellation in its tracks. I've written about that elsewhere on these pages, so let it be known once more than I consider those lawsuits ridiculous and a part of the puzzle that makes for white America. We knew from the Biden/Harris transition team back in 2020 that what we wanted, debt relief, was called "unconstitutional" by a senior advisor. Lo and behold, that's exactly what the white farmers have claimed it to be. 

Now, in the current day, hidden within the Reconciliation Bill is a modicum of debt cancellation, not just for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, but  for white farmers as well. Again, on another page here in this blog, you'll find my examination of the dollars received by the first six litigants, one of whom is the Agriculture Commissioner for the State of Texas. Those guys received over $523,000 and their counties received over $1.2B. Is that really what you call reverse discrimination when white farmers get all of the advantages? Not as I see it. 

So, the Reconciliation Bill is languishing in the Senate, held up by the Senator from West Virginia. Yes, the one who lives on a yacht in the Potomac and who drives a Maserati, the one who refuses to support a bill that will benefit the people of his state. It has been said that he opposes it because poor families would spend the child support payments on drugs. Shameful. Absolutely shameful. 

So, tomorrow is indeed Christmas Day. All around us people will be celebrating the birth of the Christ child. That is a good thing. Some of us will be in a somewhat different place emotionally. Yes, we can certainly suspend our emotional selves and engage in the joy of the day. Many of us will do just that. At this house, we plan to.

On the other hand, there are people that I care about whose Christmas Day will be clouded with unfulfilled promises. For some of us, it will be about family, and for a bunch of us it will be about the unrelenting burden of indebtedness and injustices perpetrated upon people we care about by the USDA. 

These are the things I'm pondering today. 

I hope your day is good and that it brings to you all of the joy that you can imagine. Along the way, please be mindful of those whose day will be a little more tattered. Please, especially remember that large group of farmers across the land, African American farmers, who deserve better than they are getting. Pray for them and for those persons in Congress who could ease their burdens a little. 

Thank you and God bless you. And may God bless our women and men in the military serving around the world. 

Cease and Desist on the Foreclosures: The Ball is in Your Court, Mr. Vilsack

We are living in curious times. Sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Sometimes that lack of information is part of a sadistic plan. Sometimes it's incompetence. 

Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, section 1005 lined out $4B in debt relief to a group known as Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, a designation that has been around since 1990. Section 1006 prescribed $1.01B for outreach, training, education, technical assistance, grants, and loans as well as other matters. 

Then, the white farmers across the country decided the the designation of "Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers," or 2501 of the 1990 Farm Bill, was unconstitutional. Their lawsuits, some 13 of them at last glance, stopped in its tracks the effort to relieve the indebtedness of historically mistreated farmers. In a recent post on this page, I jumped into the USDA data base and showed how the first six white litigants, including the ag commissioner of the State of Texas, benefited via three pots of money to the tune of over $523,000 and that the counties of those six litigants benefitted to the tune of $1.2B+. They are claiming reverse discrimination when the stats point out how white farmers have always had the upper hand in terms of subsidies, coronavirus relief funds, and the bailout from Trump's failed tariff war with China. 

Provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 were rewritten in the Reconciliation Bill of 2021 such that even white farmers, who have not been historically mistreated, would also receive debt relief. Whites gain advantages off of Black suffering is the way folks say it with whom I hang out. 

Earlier this year a moratorium was placed on debt collections and foreclosures. You can read that release here. 

But now, while we are waiting for the Senate to work its magic on the Reconciliation Bill, and as we wait to see what Manchin out of West Virginia is going to do, several egregious things are happening at the county level. Farms are being foreclosed on, loans are being accelerated, liens are being placed on crops, and other acts of malfeasance. For instance, a Black farmer has loans to plant and harvest his peanut and cotton crops. He owes the USDA some money and knows that he'll find debt relief around the corner, or at least he hopes so. 

In a magic slight of hand, the company buying the Black farmer's crop has placed a lien on it. This is apparently at the request of the local county office. My questions are several. What right was it of this company to know what the farmer owed? What collaborative gig was set up such that the FSA gets the first dibs on the farmer's money. Did the farmer know about this possibility? The local county office has in some way, shape, or form, realized that this particular grain company is going to process that particular farmer's particular crop and found a way to put a lien on. This means that once the farmer has had his crop sold, the money will go not to him, but to the FSA and put against the loan. This smells like a rat. 

So, there is a moratorium. It reads like this: if you  have a direct loan, the USDA will work with you and will not foreclose on you. The USDA will not accelerate your loans. See the final sentence in Senator Reverend Warnock's letter to Secretary Vilsack below. He is quoting USDA that there will be no adverse actions taken upon any farmer who does not make payments while the debt relief thing is being resolved. There you have it. What USDA said in DC, a local FSA office can undermine. How much sense does that make? Who's guarding the hen house? A bunch of foxes? You know what I mean. 

But then, here comes the foreclosure notice, here comes the loan acceleration notice, here comes the lien on your crops. Here comes all manner of things that the USDA said would not happen. Those decisions are being made at the county level. 

We have advised various Senators as to these shenanigans. One of those Senators has written a strong letter to Secretary Vilsack to call off his dogs. Here is what Senator Reverend Warnock writes: 

"In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. This legislation includes targeted debt relief payments aimed at remedying USDA’s well-documented history of racial discrimination. As USDA prepared to implement this legislation, it told eligible farmers that they would not be subject to punishment for failing to make payments on forgivable debts. On a public-facing website regarding the American Rescue Plan Act debt relief payments, USDA states “USDA is not taking any adverse actions on any eligible borrower who does not make payments” on Farm Service Agency direct loans or farm storage facility loans." This letter was signed on December 10, 2021. 

We are also in the process of gathering data across the country. We want to know whether or not this is happening just to Black farmers, and in what counties, and in what states. We want to know what other acts of malfeasance are being done to them. The data is being collected as we speak. 

A lot of people are mad. A lot of people have every right in the world not to trust the USDA. These actions justify that anger and mistrust, if we ever needed more justifications. 

White people, even white employees of the USDA, want to believe these types of actions are sporadic. Wrong. Remember the words, "systemic racism," "systemic discrimination," the system is at fault and the people who stand there with their hands in their pockets. 

And we don't. Plain and simple. Period. Full stop. Period. 

Let Justice Ring: Dear Lord, Please Quiet My Troubled Soul

Let Justice Ring: Dear Lord, Please Quiet My Troubled Soul: Dear Lord, please quiet my troubled soul And may I ever be so bold As to make a plea Worded only to thee To give my weary soul ...

I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Honors and Opportunities

The documentary, "I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Black Farmers Fight Against USDA," has had some significant successes over the past few months, and for them, we are grateful and deeply honored and moved by the support that the film has garnered. Between 1997 and 1999, fifteen Black farmers went to battle as David versus Goliath, taking on the monstrous US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice. 

The list of festivals and honors includes the following: Denton Black Film Festival (People's Choice Award, Honorable  Mention Best Documentary); Seattle Black Film Festival, Impact Awards, La Jolla (Award of Recognition); Twin Cities Black Film Festival; Whistleblowers Summit and Film Festival (Semi-Finalist, Impact Award); Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival; and Ag & Art Festival, Vacaville, CA.

At each festival, attendees, whether virtual or on the premises, got to hear and see the impact of systemic racism on the lives of Black farmers and families. It is a hard documentary to watch, and it was a difficult documentary to make. Shoun and I listened to stories of pain and suffering. We saw the tears streaming down the faces of men and women. Knowing that employees of the "people's department" had turned it into the "last plantation" for these farmers. Here is the trailer which gives you some sense of the film. 

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, has been a strong supporter of the documentary. He has shown the trailer on several occasions including Harold Bell's Black Men in America broadcast. Recently, Lawrence spoke to the California Reparations Task Force. Here are his spoken words in which he includes the trailer.  Look for Lawrence at the 15:20 mark. He also showed the trailer at a recent conference, The International Conference On Stolen Black Land, Desecrated Burial Grounds and Healing from MAAFA. Here is his presentation at the conference. You can find him at the 2:41:40 mark. You will find him to be informed, engaging, and provocative in his presentations. 

Several opportunities have presented themselves to us over the last year. Shoun discussed the film and it was shown before the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an association birthed in 2015 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Shoun and I both were interviewed by Dr. Linda Mann of the African American Redress Network. Then, in conjunction with the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival, we were interviewed, along with Adrienne Grant Taylor, by Director Kara Walker. 

Shoun premiered the film and dialogued with students from Morgan State University. I was honored to show the film and discuss it as part of the Mississippi  Delta Experience with a number of students and others affiliated with the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action at Abilene Christian University. Here is the documentary in which the documentary was situated. 

I was also honored to speak to an honors class under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Bryson. The class is a part of the criminal justice curriculum at Glenville State College in beautiful West Virginia. 

Also, during the past few months, I was also interviewed by my church around the theme of the diversity of the church. Here is a brief video of that interview. It provides some of the personal background for Charla and me and the making of the film. 

We have no idea how 2022 will roll out; however, I am pleased that we are in conversation with Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas to show the film and discuss it as part of Black History Month. 

If you have an interest in engaging Shoun and/or me, the documentary's webpage will give you contact information. 

We are grateful that people are being moved, oftentimes to tears, as the farmers and their loved ones share the stories in an up close and personal way. This is not a short term venture for us. It is a life time effort. We will not rest until Black farmers experience the same benefits under policies within the USDA as any white farmer. 

"Slow Walking?" Or, Why Has It Taken So Long, Mr. Secretary?

The wheels of justice grind slowly. The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. While the grind is slow and painful, people are dying, losing their land, percentages of their retirement funds and social security taken, and still we are told to wait. Wait, patience, your time will come, all equate to the disaster of never. 

Judge Friedman certified Black farmers as a class in 1999 and called it "The Pigford Class Action Suit." Check out my writings from 2008 and 2018 for more details. 

Some 22,551 applied for entry into Track A. Those who prevailed under this track numbered 16,281. Most of them found some sort of "justice," mostly a $50,000 payment, some with a check for taxes, and a few actually received debt relief. Those prevailing under Track B numbered 137. From both of these tracks, the paltry number of 371......let that sink in...........371 received debt relief. That's what Black farmers needed and wanted, not the pitiful amount of $50,000. 

There were two tracks. Track A promised $50K. Track B did not have a specified sum of money, but required more evidence. Debt relief was promised in both tracks. But then the attorneys for the class allowed "similarly situated white farmer," the death-knell for Black farmers, to be admitted into the system. The farmers assumed that discovery would bring forth white farmers with whom to compare their findings of discrimination. The largely white attorneys waived discovery, an unforgiveable sin in the court system. 

From 22,721 total eligible claimants, only 16,281 prevailed, and only 371 got debt relief. 

There are some significant dates: 

1) March 3, 2021, Senator Warnock succeeds in getting his "Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act" passed. 

2) March 11, 2021, President Biden signs into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Within this package is section 1005 which allowed $4 Billion to be granted to farmers of color for debt relief of their direct loans. It also included section 1006 to the tune of $1.01 Billion for outreach, training, education, technical assistance, grants and loans, and other things related to minority farmers, or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, a 2501 designation. The debt relief pack was shaped by Senator Warnock's legislation. 

3) The Miller v. Vilsack was filed in Texas on April 26, 2021. White farmers as a class are certified and the preliminary injunction signed by the judge. The white farmers claim reverse discrimination despite the fact that white farmers have received nearly all of the subsidies, coronavirus relief funds, and the funds from trump's failed war with China.

4) Faust etal v. Vilsack was filed on April 29, 2021 and the temporary restraining order granted on June 10, 2021. 

5) Winn v. Vilsack was filed on May 25, 2021. Defendants responded on June 4, a hearing was held June 16, and the judge issued the preliminary injunction on June 23, 2021. 

All of these cases look and sound alike. At the latest information, there are now 13 such cases across the country. 

In an email from an employee high up in the USDA, the secretary was defended against our accusation of "slow-walking" the process. There are also several quotes from Vilsack listed, all affirming that the white farmers' cases are frivolous. Our word, not his, but that the white farmers have been advantaged all along. 

So, when I look at March 3, 2021 when Senator Warnock's legislation passed (which ultimately made its way into the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signed into law on March 11, 2021).

Then, the earliest judge's decision was signed on June 10, 2021, I cannot help but count the number of days. It looks to me like the gap is close to 100 days. Surely the Secretary of Agriculture knew what was going on in the halls of Congress, especially as things were related to the goings on at USDA. Surely. 

Secretary Vilsack is giving away taxpayers money left and right out of USDA and DC. The dollars are going to reputable issues: climate change, heirs property, and many others. 

Why, then, did Secretary Vilsack move so slowly on getting debt relief into the hands of minority farmers. Does it indeed take an extraordinary length of time? Does it require the courts' decisions? Does it require inclusion in the reconciliation bill? 

I assert that if Secretary Vilsack had wanted to move more quickly, he could have. If he wanted to provide debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, he could have. If he had wanted to provide debt relief, he could have done so and avoided the 13 white farmer cases. He could have avoided the intensity of the work to have debts relieved under the reconciliation bill. 

We don't know if the reconciliation bill is going to pass. If it does, there will be major dollars that farmers will receive, even the white ones who somehow or other are found meritorious under the current machinations. 

Do you know what is most offensive about this miserable waiting game? White farmers who have all of the advantages that the system gives to them will benefit off of Black suffering. Let that sink in. White farmers benefit from Black suffering. 

Sounds like the same principle upon which our country was built, including the economics of southern agriculture. 

Still..............the question.................WHY DID SECRETARY VILSACK MOVE SO SLOWLY WHEN HE COULD HAVE MOVED EXPEDITIOUSLY, SENT OUT DEBT RELIEF LETTERS, AND SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS WOULD BE BREATHING EASIER RIGHT NOW......RIGHT NOW. 

RIGHT. NOW.