Love Notes #2, January 24, 2017
By Leah Penniman
Resistance Strategies, New Farm Manager, Job Opening, Sign Ups for Everything, Winter Training, and “Love Will Triumph”
To be a revolutionary is to be rooted in uncompromising love of our people and love of the earth. I personally do not ascribe to the doctrine that we earn our “radical badge” by tearing down the work and personhood of others who may have different tactics or perspectives. I long for a movement community that can engage in rigorous critical dialogue that upholds the humanity and dignity of all who strive for justice. I am grateful for the “reformers” who work on the inside to change policies and create programs – in fact our diversion program for court-targeted youth is possible because of one such lawyer. I am grateful for those who put their bodies on the line, enduring hoses and tear gas to stop pipelines and bulldozers. I am grateful for the visionaries building just alternative institutions – from cooperative businesses to language justice collectives. I am grateful for the voices that speak out with harshness and anger, shaking the community from its complacency. I am grateful for the sometimes fumbling, well-intentioned words and actions of “allies” and their courage to change. All of us are necessary. None of us are disposable. Ase.
Check out Climbing Poetree’s newest video “Love Will Triumph” starring our youngest Soul Fire Farmer, Emet! Thank you to Naima Penniman and Alixa Garcia for uplifting #solutionaries.
In this time with the Empire is emboldened, our resistance is imperative. It’s unlikely that we will be able to get any favorable federal legislation passed during this takeover, so we need to fortify the grassroots. It’s time to organize at the municipal and state level for sanctuary for immigrants, funding for social programs, and the dismantling of the prison-industrial complex. It’s time to organize folks with privilege to systematically and strategically redistribute wealth to frontlines communities. It’s time to put our backs and sweat into our community organizations – the food justice farms, local schools, health clinics, advocacy collectives, and other formations building alternatives to white supremacist capitalism. And it’s time for direct action – demonstrations, civil disobedience, and tactics of the ungovernable. A multi-pronged strategy is necessary, so let’s each find the intersection of our passion and what the world needs.
It was powerful to be part of the largest demonstration in the memory of veteran Albany activists, as close to 10,000 people gathered to resist the xenophobic, sexist, racist agenda of the empire.
Winter is rich with opportunities for community organizing and activist training. In the past couple of weeks we have been blessed to offer equity and justice training for Edible Schoolyard NYC, a “Social Justice on the Farm and in The Classroom” workshop for education students at Goddard College, and food justice and nutrition training at Globesity in Albany’s North End.
Our farm team is almost complete! We are so excited to welcome Larisa Jacobson as our new Farm Manager. She is already hard at work on the crop plan and seed calendar for the season. Larisa has deep community organizing, international solidarity, and farming experience and “holds reverence for the healing power of art, music, and food and for lifting up the stories and agency of those at the margins and the in-between spaces.” You can see full bios for our squad here.
GET INVOLVED IN 2017!
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Soul Fire Farm is hiring a Farm and Food Justice Educator for the summer. Apply now.
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Applications are open for Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion, including the “train the trainer” track.
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Let us feed you! Register now for the 2017 Ujaama Farm Share, 20 weeks of fresh veggies delivered to your doorstep in the food apartheid areas of Albany and Troy.
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Volunteer! We welcome volunteers at our monthly community farm days. We also have opportunities for remote volunteering – research, writing, and speaking.
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Registration is open for our summer youth food justice empowerment program. Please sign up.
Stay strong family. We got this.
Leah and crew