Black farming projects look to recoup historical U.S. land losses

The online Reparations for Black-Indigenous Farmers map connects farmers across the United States in an effort to support those who have been historically oppressed. Those who participate voluntarily pay reparations to the over 50 Black and Indigenous farmers’ projects that have been listed as a way of (re)building centuries of discrimination.

The New Communities Land Trust was created in the 1960s as a way to build power and equity for and among African Americans in Georgia. The Trust works with Black farmers on many different levels, including helping them strengthen their farming practices and businesses. While the Trust was lost in 1985 due to discriminatory bank practices, it was restarted with a $12 million settlement from the federal government.

More and more Indigenous communities throughout North America are reclaiming their ancestral lands as a way to access traditional foodways. For example, a group of Mi’kmaq tribes in Nova Scotia bought a majority share in one of the largest seafood businesses on the continent, allowing them to use the company’s fishing licenses to harvest more scallops, lobsters, and crabs. The Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma is restoring their land that had been polluted by mining. Under the Quapaw Cattle Company, they are able to sustain more than 1,000 cattle and bison as well as growing two crops.

An Equitable Development Initiative was launched as a result of a racial equity analysis that gauged the effect that Seattle’s economic growth would have on communities of color. Funding for the initiative has gone toward capital for these communities to purchase real estate and develop projects that build up affordable housing, child care, food security, and other issues that would best serve longtime residents and prevent gentrification.

Two urban farmers launched a GoFundMe and raised $55,000 to help provide land security to Black farmers in Detroit. Through the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, they will select applicants to grow crops for five years and provide technical assistance to growers who want to purchase their own land. The amount raised is not enough to help everyone who needs it, but organizers hope city programs make land more accessible to neighborhood residents.

Racial injustice in America and the resulting wealth gap are a result of entrenched systemic inequities that can only be addressed if a collective acknowledgement of the past is made much like it was in South Africa. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) identified and cataloged the trauma endured during the apartheid era in order to shed light on the physical, mental, and economic toll of South African apartheid. Publicly and collectively acknowledging the trauma allowed the nation to peacefully transition into post-apartheid. Acknowledgement is the first step to undoing inequity.

To ensure that Black communities have access to healthy food, three people in Los Angeles are taking different approaches to promote food security and food sovereignty. As part of Feed Black Futures, Ali Anderson packs nearly 100 boxes a week of fruits and vegetables to deliver to Black women and caregivers who have been impacted by incarceration. Artist Lauren Halsey and her Summaeverythang Community Center deliver up to 1,000 boxes a week of free organic produce. Chef Kat Williams is also making sure Black people of the LGBT community have access to healthy meals.

Black banks have been held up by leaders and celebrities in the community as a way to end Black poverty. Previous efforts have been made in the 1960s when Black banks gave loans to community members after being denied home loans from white banks. But those loans lost money when housing values declined as a result of redlining policies that damaged public schools. Black banking therefore was not the answer to ending Black poverty and bridging the gap between white and black wealth. One law professor believes the answer lies in public banking which is funded by tax revenue and acts as a public utility.

Over 1000 community members gathered to demand officials keep a 2016 promise to give a vacant publicly-owned fire station to the Africatown Community Land Trust. The station is in a historically Black and quickly gentrifying neighborhood and the trust wants to turn it into a resource center to develop the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. As citywide protests for racial equality spread, the city abruptly agreed to turn it over. The group also wants more unused properties turned over to Black community ownership and for the city to develop an anti-gentrification land acquisition fund.

A new park plan in Washington, D.C. addresses systemic racism and inequity in current city infrastructure, digging deeper than traditional urban planning landscapes. The new plan takes into account perspectives from minorities and low-income households to ensure the community space is built by the people, for the people - establishing economic justice along the way. This D.C. park plan is helping people purchase homes, finance businesses and get jobs.