Pardon me, if when I want to tell the story of my life it’s the land I talk about. This is the land. It grows in your blood and you grow. If it dies in your blood you die out. –Pablo Neruda
What happens when you invite 18 brilliant, big-hearted, curious Black and Latinx youth to spend a week together on sacred land learning more about farming, leadership, ancestors, and social justice? We will give you a hint… It is very similar to what happens when 18 adults from diverse backgrounds put on their tool belts and learn to turn elements of forest and soil into sustainable human habitat. Guesses? The answer is MAGIC! Not the trick of the hand kind of magic, but that genuine “I remember who I am and why I am here in this life” kind of magic. So join us. Sign ups for all 2018 programs are now open, including the Youth Immersion, Builders Immersion, and Uprooting Racism workshop.
-
Black Latinx Youth Immersion – A rites of passage program rooted in land, love, and liberations for ages 12-15, July 23-27
-
Builders Immersion – An intensive for activists to “level up” our carpentry skills in a POC, women, queer, GNC positive space, August 26-31
-
Uprooting Racism in the Food System – 1 day workshop on June 3
-
Applications are still open for the Ujaama Farm Share CSA, Black Latinx Farmers Immersion, Youth Visits, and Community Farm Days
We are taking reparations into our own hands. 40 Acres and a Mule would be at least $6.4 trillion today and we cannot wait for the government to acknowledge that stolen wealth and land must be returned. We who believe in freedom have created the Reparations Map for Black-Indigenous Farmers in recognition that the food system was built on the stolen land and stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and other people of color. We are so excited about this powerful opportunity for people-to-people solidarity. It’s simple. If you have resources, contact the farmer directly to share. Let us know if you have a project that you want to include on the map. Over 10,000 people have already viewed this resource in just over a week! And several farmers have already received reparations!
We also just published Sowing the Seeds of Food Justice: A Guide for Farmers Who Want to Supply Low-Income Communities While Maintaining Financial Sustainability. Check out the simple ways that ALL farmers can participate in the movement to end food apartheid.
And on the international reparations tip, thank you to all those who have supported our sibling farm Finca Conciencia in Vieques, PR as they provide food, seeds, water, jobs, and advocacy for their community in the wake of the unnatural disaster of Hurricane Maria. Thank you also for your ongoing love and support of our sibling farmers in Komye, Haiti who are continuing their irrigation and seed saving projects.
“You are a force of nature. You made me question my whole life,” is not an everyday compliment and we are deeply honored to have received it and similar affirmations for our justice griot work in the community. Between Amani, Larisa, Dayna-Joy, and Leah we have facilitated workshops and lectures at Smith College, Amherst College, Union College, NOFA NY, Farm School NYC, Tivoli Preserve Community Farm, Stony Point Center, and Green Thumb NYC this past month. We walk folks through the real history of the racist and oppressive DNA of the food system, uplift ancestors and contemporaries from our communities who are innovating alternative ways of being with land and food, and catalyze action-oriented conversations such that each person has a next step toward justice. We are evolving our Afro-indigenous crop planning curriculum, role plays for “calling in,” and reflections on cultural appropriation – all thanks to your requests and feedback.
Also, check out our recent radio spots on WPFM, Solidarity Is This, and iEatGreen.
In the coming month, you can catch us at Russell Sage College 2/19, Chicago Food Policy Summit keynote with Erika Allen 2/23, and Food Justice Summit in Tupper Lake NY 3/1. Details on our 2018 Program Calendar.
International Solidarity – Sibling farm in Komye, Haiti still using the communal irrigation system that Soul Fire Farm and Ayiti Resurrect delegates helped install last year.