Rooted and Rising: Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference, November 10-12, 2017, Atlanta GA
By Tricia Woolbright
Part 2: The Conference
The conference opened with the keynote presentation by Shirley Sherrod (https://goo.gl/tU7xkg) and Rukia Lumbumba(Please look at their presentation notes, which can be found at the links.)
Both speakers were very passionate and made me tear up a little as they discussed social justice and the struggles which they have had to endure. It was shocking to learn that they’ve had to face down law enforcement and armed members of the kkk blocking them from land they legally purchased. Through legal battles, they eventually were able to get the land they owned turned over to them. It really hit home how hard it is to obtain and keep land, and how systemic racism has kept people from owning land or having equity in farming. They urged people to find strategies of cooperation and to seek training in business and communication. They also advocate for the honoring of and healing from the trauma of oppression, even as people struggle with serious ongoing issues.
One topic of interest to me during Shirley’s remarks was the fact that often black farmers do not get credit for the agricultural ideas they develop. I believe it’s important to pay attention and honor their legacy. If we don’t know our roots, we can’t grow.
Rukia ended the presentation by leading everyone in the New African Creed:
We then moved into our workshops. By far, my favorite was a workshop by Jerry Ra called:Cooperative Urban Farming: Turning Your Home into an Asset.
Jerry has been doing urban ag for 15 years. Having started in community gardens, he feels they are disaster for new urban gardeners. He emphasized that the distance from the home was the biggest problem. (I, too, have found a distinct difference between community gardens and home gardens. Our surveys also reflect that the distance to a community garden can be a serious hurdle.) He also found that selling plots didn’t work, there were problems with equitable resource distribution, and many community gardens were started with no focus or communication with other organizations. Jerry took on this program by coordinating gardens. One would grow herbs, another greens, etc, and they would split the proceeds at market. He then started Ants Cooperative. Intended as a CSA, Ants was landless and relied on small private plots at homes. These back-yard Liberation Gardens are farmed and managed by Jerry and his crew. The homeowner or renter provides the space and pays ¼ the water bill. The gardens use wicking beds and Kilimanjaro Mounds (same principle as Hugelkulture, but with a name reflecting African heritage) and utilize rain catchment. Liberation Gardens have both aquaponics and mixed crop vegetables, and they can be set up for $100. Once the garden is producing, Jerry’s crew takes ½ the produce and fish and leaves the rest for the host family. They then take their ½ to market and bulk sell it. ½ of the proceeds go back to the family. The family ends up with half the food, and some money for allowing this program to farm at their house. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Currently, Jerry is working on building beautiful living walls and is developing income generating projects. His work is inspiring, his perspective was refreshing, and I really admire him.
I also attended a workshop on Uplifting Urban Youth through Urban Ag. Led by Atiba Jones, of Risala Gardens and Director of Greening Youth Foundation:He had many good points about urban youth and the positives of engaging them in urban farming. I enjoyed learning about some really great urban youth led programs, some exchange programs, and ways to teach business in farming.
After the workshops, there were two closing speakers: Leni Sorenson
And Matthew Raiford
These two speakers were funny, passionate, and real. I really appreciated their outlook and how they teach. I would like to follow Leni and learn more from her as she teaches homesteading, provisions prep, and different techniques for living off your garden. She always asks a farmer at the market, “is this what you have after all your family and friends and you are taken care of for the year?” because she believes farmers need to first feed themselves and the immediate community, and she has met a lot who sell first and take the leftovers only. Matthew Raiford was comical and passionate, and had a lot of stories of failure. His land story was harrowing. In fact, both had huge struggles with land acquisition. Access to and holding on to land was at the forefront of this entire conference, and it was a strong note to end on.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend this conference. My heart and mind are forever changed and improved by what I learned. I encourage everyone to follow and learn from these and other leaders in black farming, and I believe we should honor the legacy and rich culture of black agriculture in the US.
If you would like to learn more, the following books were recommended: