Our Legacy

Our work is based on a legacy of radical Black activists, change makers, and figures in the fight for collective land ownership, wealth redistribution, and food sovereignty through economically and environmentally sustainable food systems. Throughout this painful history is a movement for justice rooted in the fight for liberation.

In this timeline, we highlight the historical events and figures that have most profoundly impacted the Black community's relationship to agriculture and its central role in nourishing our bodies, culture, and power.

A Timeline of Our Historical Roots

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A Timeline of Our Historical Roots 〰️

Featured

Colonization of the Americas: 1619

The First unfree Africans were brought to Virginia.
Land theft from Indigenous Americans and forced labor was the foundation of a powerful agricultural sector

American Independence: 1716-1793

U.S. Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War
Captive Africans forced labor was foundational to the development of the powerful U.S. economy

The Civil War: 1861-1865

An executive order by President Abraham Lincoln that freed those enslaved in the Confederate States in open rebellion against the Union

Post-Civil War Reconstruction: 1865-1877

Despite being denied the wealth and land redistribution for freedmen that was promised in the form of '40 acres and a mule,' many Black Southerners purchased land and accumulated 19 million acres by 1910

Jim Crow Era: 1896-1930

Jim Crow Laws: One of the forms of white backlash that emerged following Reconstruction

Jim Crow laws were designed to inhibit the financial and social advancement of Black people in the US, by upholding white supremacy in all aspects of life, including farming.
White farmers and business owners were given the right to charge additional interest rates on loans given to sharecroppers, and Black farmers

The Great Depression and The New Deal: 1930-1950

Discrimination within worker protection and social security laws.
The Wagner Act helped white workers unionize, excluded nonwhite people, blocking opportunities for Black Americans to have higher-paying jobs

The Civil Rights Movement 1954 - 1979

Organizations like The Black Panther Party, New Communities Land Trust, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and Freedom Farmers Cooperative emerged to counter the racial wealth gap and systemic discrimination experienced by Black people and Black Farmers.

White Backlash: 1980-Present

Minority Farmers Rights Act passed to allow use of federal funds for Black farmers which, despite passing, funds were not appropriated until 1992, following a "Caravan to Washington" led by farmers and supporters across the South
Pigford vs. Glickman / Class action lawsuit filed by Timothy Pigford and 400 other Black farmers against the United States Department of Agriculture

Black Farmer Fund: 2020

Our work is based on a legacy of radical Black activists, changemakers, and figures in the fight for collective land ownership, wealth redistribution, and food sovereignty through economically and environmentally sustainable food systems.

Sources:

“7 Contributions of Black Farmers to Agriculture.” Poughkeepsie Farm Project, https://www.farmproject.org/blog/2017/2/4/hikqys8igvv0bo368aco3mrb1rv7d1. Accessed 25 May 2021.
“A Brief History of Black Land Ownership in the U.S.” Fair Farms, 25 Mar. 2021, https://fairfarmsnow.org/black-land-ownership-in-the-maryland-farming-community/.
ABOUT US | Federation Coop. https://www.federation.coop/about_us. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Black Farmers’ Lives Matter: The Significant Contributions of Black Farmers in America : Food First. https://foodfirst.org/press-releases/black-farmers-lives-matter-the-significant-contributions-of-black-farmers-in-america/. Accessed 25 May 2021.
“Black Panther Party.” Wikipedia, 18 May 2021. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_Panther_Party&oldid=1023833759.
Blakemore, Erin. “How the GI Bill’s Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans.” HISTORY, https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice By Jessica Gordon Nembhard. https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-06216-7.html. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Colored Farmers’ Alliance | Encyclopedia.Com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/colored-farmers-alliance-0. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Cooperative Union - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_Farmers%27_National_Alliance_and_Cooperative_Union. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Editors, History com. “George Washington Carver.” HISTORY, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/george-washington-carver. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund Works to End Poverty and Start Social Justice in the Rural South | Grassroots Economic Organizing. https://geo.coop/story/federation-southern-cooperativesland-assistance-fund-works-end-poverty-and-start-social. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Haitian Revolution | Causes, Summary, & Facts | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Revolution. Accessed 25 May 2021.
“Shirley Sherrod • Center for Community Land Trust Innovation.” Center for Community Land Trust Innovation, https://cltweb.org/resources/hall-of-fame/shirley-sherrod-2/. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Stout, Madeleine E. “YNCL.” Historically Speaking, https://vugradhistory.wordpress.com/tag/yncl/. Accessed 25 May 2021.
Sutherland, Claudia. Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) • Global African History •. 16 July 2007, https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolution-1791-1804/.
The Plight of the American Black Farmer | NRCS Washington. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/wa/people/employees/?cid=nrcs144p2_036539. Accessed 25 May 2021.

Our Legacy

A Timeline of Our Historical Roots

〰️

A Timeline of Our Historical Roots 〰️

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