Events & Programs

Registration is required. Registration begins October 1

Each One, Teach One. Many Hands Make Light Work.

Volunteer at Soul Fire Farm to learn about some of our farming practices while supporting our work and getting your hands on the land.

Please only register if you are able to stay for the entire day as spots are limited. Plan to arrive on time since orientation is an essential part of the event. Find out more on about Community Work & Learn Days here . 

Leah Penniman will lead a guided meditation and share a lecture on BLACK EARTH WISDOM: Afro-Indigenous Ecological Thought and Practice. 

Register here:
https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/firmly-planted-honoring-the-work-resistance-of-the-black-woman-farmer-tickets-1008719235387?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Farm Alliance of Baltimore invites you to an unforgettable evening at the historic Parkway Theatre on Friday, November 15th from 6:00-10:00PM, honoring and celebrating Black women farmers.

The event begins with a pre-screening reception, followed by screenings of two powerful films, Farming While Black and The Aunties. These films highlight the significant impact and legacy of Black women in agriculture.

After the screenings, engage in a panel discussion featuring the stars and creators of the films:

• Leah Penniman (Soul Fire Farm)
• Karen Washington (Rise and Root Farm)
• The Aunties: Paulette Greene & Donna Dear (Mt. Pleasant Acres Farms)
• Charlyn Magdaline Griffith-Oro & Jeannine Kayembe-Oro (Directors of The Aunties, Wholistic. Art)
• Blain Snipstal (Black Dirt Farm Collective)
• Mark Decena (Director of Farming While Black, Kontent Films)

Farming While Black - Farming While Black is a feature-length documentary film which examines the historical plight of Black farmers in the United States and the rising generation reclaiming their rightful ownership to land and reconnecting with their ancestral roots.

As the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, Leah Penniman finds strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism – agricultural practices that can heal people and the planet. Influenced and inspired by Karen Washington, a pioneer in urban community gardens in New York City, and fellow farmer and organizer Blain Snipstal, Leah galvanizes around farming as the basis of revolutionary justice.

In 1910, Black farmers owned 14 percent of all American farmland. Over the intervening decades, that number fell below two percent, the result of racism, discrimination, and dispossession. The film chronicles Penniman and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage. Collectively, their work has a major impact, as each is a leader in sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.

[Watch the trailer here]

The Aunties - A short format climate documentary based on the lives of Black farmers Paulette Greene, and Donna Dear, and the legacies of Harriet Tubman and Mt. Pleasant Acres Farms. This film intends to inspire QTBIPOC communities in the climate justice field to continue their work and to bring those witnessing on the sidelines into climate action and activism. We see our protagonists in active stewardship of the land that they have grown alongside for almost 30 years. The film touches on themes of race and gender, offering viewers the opportunity to consider connecting the legacies of enslavement, freedom, and Black eldership.

[Watch the trailer here]

This event is organized in partnership with:
Soul Fire Farm
Rise and Root Farm
Mt. Pleasant Acres Farms
Wholistic. Art
Kontent Films
Dreaming Out Loud
Black Dirt Farm Collective
good neighbor
exittheapple
SNF Parkway Theater

Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Farmer Grant

Purchase your ticket here!

FARMING WHILE BLACK directed by Mark Decena, will feature a Q&A immediately following the screening.  

Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, reflects on the plight of Black farmers in the United States. From the height of Black-owned farms at 14% in 1910 to less than 2% today, Leah, and other compatriots help propel a rising generation of Black farmers finding strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism — and its potential to save the planet.

Farming While Black examines the historical plight of Black farmers in the United States and the rising generation of Black farmers reclaiming their rightful ownership to land and reconnecting with their ancestral roots.

As the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, Leah Penniman finds strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism – agricultural practices that can heal people and the planet. Influenced and inspired by Karen Washington, a pioneer in urban community gardens in New York City, and fellow farmer and organizer Blain Snipstal, Leah galvanizes around farming as the basis of revolutionary justice.

In 1910, Black farmers owned 14 percent of all American farmland. Over the intervening decades, that number fell below two percent, the result of racism, discrimination, and dispossession. The film chronicles Penniman and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage. Collectively, their work has a major impact, as each is a leader in sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.

BIFF Environmental Film Focus

BIFF has a long history of presenting high-quality environmental documentaries. With the impacts of the climate crisis starting to be acutely felt in the Berkshires, artistic director Kelley Vickey and program consultant Lillian began to explore the possibility of making the Environmental Film Focus a permanent ongoing feature within BIFF’s year-round programming.

The Environmental Film Focus allows people to come together in the community and engage with environmentally-based stories, strategies, and actions. Our objective? To build a more deeply resourced, connected, and resilient community capable of responding to the many dimensions of the deepening environmental emergency with creativity and competence. 

https://www.theasa.net/annual-meeting/years-meeting

Details forthcoming.

Registration is required. Registration begins October 8

Each One, Teach One. Many Hands Make Light Work.

Volunteer at Soul Fire Farm to learn about some of our farming practices while supporting our work and getting your hands on the land.

Please only register if you are able to stay for the entire day as spots are limited. Plan to arrive on time since orientation is an essential part of the event. Find out more on about Community Work & Learn Days here . 

Reserve your tickets here | Join Leah for Afro-Indigenous Earth-Listening Skills @ The Rewilding Summit: 

We will immerse in the cosmological framework of ecological humility from a Black diasporic perspective. Participants will practice techniques to guide their management of and interaction with land in their daily lives - including making offerings, seeking permission, and designating refuges. This workshop will be rich in story, song, and hands-on practice. Bring your questions about your relationship to land, water, and beyond human beings. 

Leah Penniman is an Omo Awo, Olorisa, and Manye in the West African Indigenous religions of Vodun and Ifa-Orisa. She is co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, author of Farming While Black and Black Earth Wisdom, and brings 27 years of regenerative agriculture experience.