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“Abolition requires that we change one thing – which is everything, everything. So when one says ‘prison abolition’ one cannot only be talking about prison, that doesn’t mean anything. Abolition is not absence, it is presence. And indeed what the world will become already exists in fragments and pieces, in experiments and possibilities. So those who feel in their gut deep anxiety that abolition means we knock it all down, do scorched earth and then start something new…let that go. That’s not what it is. It’s building the future from the present, in all of the ways we can.” ~Ruth Wilson Gilmore We love working with youth! Darrow high school students contributed to a regional food system assessment by analyzing the health of the soils, farms, grocery stores, and people in their town. While we often think about urban areas as the only places experiencing food apartheid, they uncovered many rural communities with little or no access to fresh foods and staggering rates of childhood obesity, lead poisoning, and cancer. Next, they work on plans for improving their food system – check out their work in progress. In addition to Darrow, we worked with Albany Leadership Charter School and Pittsfield Roots Rising youth this month on food justice and heritage projects. ANNOUNCEMENTS
“You know, when I was thirteen Dr. King came down to organize us in Mississippi. We all got arrested and there was no space in the county jail, so they packed us into a cow stall. I was in there for three days before they let our parents come and get us. That changed me,” explained one of our movement elders during a recent meeting in Atlanta GA. The most profound thing about running all over the country for these talks, panels, and conferences is not being on the mic, but getting to listen. This past weekend 100 leaders in the Black Farming movement gathered to determine the final steps in the Pigford case, the largest civil rights settlement in US history seeking to remedy decades of devastating USDA discrimination. It was an honor, truly and honor, to be at the table with the guiding lights of our movement – Mama Shirley Sherrod, Baba Ralph Paige, and others. Before that, we were at the HEAL Food Alliance annual summit where brilliant minds crafted top secret strategies for putting the food system back in the hands of the people. Pictured above is Amani Olugbala rocking the mic as keynote at the Chicago Food Policy Summit. We also repped at Albany Caucus Day, Russell Sage College, Hudson Valley Community College, CT Department of Environmental Energy and Conservation, GROW Pittsburgh, and the FEED Back Food Justice Summit in Tupper Lake NY. We pray that sharing these words builds momentum for change. “Why are you posting a 2014 throwback in your newsletter?” you rightfully ask. Delaware Community School just reached out to see if we could give them another dozen fertilized chicken eggs, because apparently our eggs have a super high hatch rate. Here are Soul Fire chicks getting settled in their new home at Albany’s Radix center after being tended by these beautiful kindergarten children. We have birds on our mind at the moment because we just ordered our 2018 flock of 250 meat birds, another 25 layers, and for the first time 30 guinea hens. We are enamored with guinea hens, indigenous to Africa, the oldest domesticated fowl, and incredible scavengers of ticks and pest insects. Yes, it is true that we are still under three feet of snow, but this is a compassionate Love Notes so we are including a picture of the one day of thaw and sun we have had all month. On that sacred day, Larisa seeded dozens of flats of onions, beets, and other cold-tolerant babies in the greenhouse. Shortly thereafter, we had three Nor’easters in a row and the propane company refused to bring us any fuel because of the treacherous conditions. Such is rural life! The seedlings made it through anyway because they are tough like our people. You will get your food deliveries, we promise. And in other wheelbarrows, sand is being sifted to remove rocks and ice. Does anyone know what sand + straw + lime or clay yields? Natural plaster! Today, we are putting plaster on the interior walls of the “canopy” lodging space which tells you how close we are to completing that infrastructure project. This means that 7 or 8 of you will get to sleep under a roof when you come to the Farmers Immersion rather than in tents. Luxury! A big shout out goes to Damaris, Jonah, and Neshima – the work crew on the project. MARCH ACTION Herman Bell, former member of the Black Liberation Army and founder of the Victory Gardens project in Maine, is a mentor for the Victory Bus Project where we provide rides and fresh food to incarcerated people and their loved ones. He has been granted parole after serving 45 years in prison. There is a significant backlash after this decision and you can take action to encourage Governor Cuomo to uphold the parole decision. |
