A Few Thoughts on the 2007 Farm Bill

The 2007 Farm Bill is a hot topic in DC and around the country these days. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 will soon expire. That's the one that has organized and orchestrated farm-related spending since then.The 2007 version of the Farm Bill has been under development for some time now. The House passed its version of the 2007 Farm Bill, H.R. 2419, with much debate back in July. The Senate Agriculture Committee has just passed a slightly different version of the Bill, one which invests economics and efforts into a strategy to expand fresh fruits and vegetables for children across the country.

Next week, then, the full Senate will debate the farm bill. We'll see what happens. It ought to be more than interesting. To whom should it be more than interesting? That would include a long list: farmers, ranchers, economists, agribusiness teachers and leaders, and Black farmer advocates, just to name a few. I don't know about you, but I'll be tuned in to C-Span.

The Bill is a monolithic document of 742 pages and eleven titles covering commodities, conservation, energy, rural development, credit, nutrition, and other areas. The House version of the Bill is a $290 billion plan that keeps agricultural subsidies in status quo, no small problem for some folks, while adding provisions for those who grow specialty crops, those concerned about settling discrimination suits, and other things. NPR notes that the bill does not follow party lines but that it does follow regional interests. Critics have problems with its uneven subsidy policy, misguided conservation efforts, increased expenditures for food stamps, and international food and trade issues. Those are seriously complicated issues for amateurs like myself.

There are some measures under Title XI that relate to socially disadvantaged farmers. $15 million per year for five years, for a total of $75 million is allocated to "socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers outreach and technical assistance program." The amendments are designed to enhance various efforts, assist the Secretary in increasing participation of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, allowing for the USDA to grant funds to Community Based Organizations, and requires the Secretary of Agriculture to inform Congress more specifically with how these programs are working. It also has implications for civil rights of these farmers by mandating accurate reporting of participation data, funding of beginning farmers and ranchers, a transparent process when denial of services has occurred, development of an office of outreach, and the establishment of a "Minority Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee" at the USDA which would report Civil Rights actions to the Secretary of Agriculture in a timely manner.

The number of dollars? Seems to me like too small an amount. Policy changes? Nice ideas, but we've seen those sorts of things before. Maybe this time they won't get trapped in bureauracy.

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives is a vocal critic of various aspects of the legislation. They specifically press for a percentage of the funding to go into areas where disadvantaged farmers are highly populated, a moratorium on foreclosures on properties of African American farmers, development of an independent board to review foreclosure actions, an increase in the amount of funding since the original authorization was never fully appropriated, more equitable funding of 1890 and 1994 institutions that work in the area of small farm research and other areas specifically related to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and "minority serving institutions," restructuring the commodity program so as to benefit small farming operations, and targeting more specifically direct loans to socially disadvantaged farmers.

The Congressional Black Caucus has been especially active, and apparently influential, in the development of the H.R. 2419. Check out this link for their release as to their contributions to the House Bill.

Numerous entities are critical of the ongoing policy of large subsidies for large farms and ranches. The Center for Rural Affairs, located in Nebraska, is especially sensitive to this area, and is advocating for change during this time of debate. See this link for their information and for opportunities to advocate on behalf of various aspects of the bill with the Senate. Follow the links so as to voice your opinion about subsidies or provisions related to the Black farmer and other socially disadvantaged farmers.

So, how complicated is this process? Very. How interesting is the debate going to be? Very. How concerned should we be about the outcome? Very.

Anybody who eats should be concerned about farming. Anybody concerned about farming and rural life in America should be concerned about the plight of the Black farmer. They are our brothers and sisters. We are their brothers and sisters. We are family. We are kin.

Priceless

Rental car per day: $50

Gatorade, coffee, and sunflower seeds: $25

Motel: $100

Breakfast at a local diner: $12

Four hour interview with the Black farmer just north of Leavenworth, Kansas: priceless

My personal journey

Growing up in the Dallas Ft. Worth area I quickly learned that economics play a significant role in people's lives. The extravagant status symbols and shopping opportunities of the North Dallas suburbs provided an eerie juxtaposition to the quiet desperation of poverty in urban Dallas. Prime real estate was gobbled by strip malls while families struggling to gain footing found themselves without affordable housing.

Larry James and Central Dallas Ministries organized opportunities for local communities of faith to spend a few hours walking alongside people intentional to pair the breaking in of the kingdom of God with the transformation of citizens in Dallas. These multiple encounters through my early adolescence reoriented my thinking towards the poor. One misguided friend once spoke in terms of bringing God back to the inner-city, he was quickly corrected with a wise man saying, "We cannot bring God back to the inner city because he never left it in the first place!" Wonderful work is done here alongside those with whom the work benefits the most.

My grandfather farmed for many years in West Texas before working for the state department in the Texas Water Commission. I sometimes forget that agriculture is in my blood. When I'm reminded of this heritage I recall family gatherings where wonderful stories about the hardships and blessings of working the land. There is a palpable sense of fulfillment, pride, and accomplishment in these stories.

My time spent with Dr. Waymon Hinson afforded me yet another reorienting experience. I've come to learn that not all farmers have been treated equal, more than that, many have been treated inhumanely. Many family's stories about farming are laced with pain, tragedy, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Access to loans and vital information have been withheld along racial lines. Dr. Hinson regularly comes into contact with people who's life is forever altered by these discriminations and actively pursues resources while advocating for systemic change.

Both of these reorienting experiences remind me of something Jesus would be apart of. Jesus did not come to help a distant disenfranchised people group but rather called out for justice, mercy, and love from in middle of a crowd. He surrounded himself with people who were in need of healing and were in need of a voice. Jesus calls out for us to dive into the river social of justice and advocate alongside our fellow sisters and brothers against every injustice in existence. Injustice incarnated in the form of biased economic policy, short-sided legislation, systemic racism, or overlooked and underrepresented people groups. Our purpose is to join the chorus of those calling out against injustice and oppression in all its forms.

-Scott
MFI Intern

Preliminary thoughts: 2007 Farm Bill

The 2007 House-passed Farm Bill is an important piece of legislation dealing with agricultural policy that affects the lives of farmers and consumers alike. Additionally, and more to the point, the Farm Bill has important implications for the continuing fight against injustice and discrimination towards Black farmers who farm under USDA guidelines. Although the 2007 Farm Bill attempts to increase aid to socially disadvantaged farmers, most see the bill as a colossal disappointment. The EWG statement (http://www.mulchblog.com/2007/08/ewg_statement_on_house_farm_bi.php)
regarding the Farm Bill sums it up nicely by stating that it will be remembered as a “missed opportunity for reform of federal farm policies that are broken at their core.” This missed opportunity includes the chance to adequately acknowledge and correct the inequities in USDA policies in dealing with black farmers.

Link to the Farm Bill: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html

Check out this summary found at the Environmental Working Group web page from earlier this week: http://www.ewg.org/node/25509.

More on this later from the team as we read responses to the bill from around the country.

Sarah Hugman

The Wreath Laying Ceremony

It was an amazing day. We stood on the land, and we stood hand in hand. Most people knew each other. Charla and I knew none of them. They all knew Matthew and Florenza Grant. These were two good people who loved family and farming.

Their legacy is well known. They moved to this area from Virginia in 1947 as part of the "resettlement" movement, and then battled the Halifax County FmHA in the 1970s when the move was afoot to take the land away from those who'd settled there. They are laid to rest adjacent to their "House By the Side of the Road," a safe haven for visitors during those 61 years.

Their family and friends gathered around to pay them tribute. We placed a Peace Lily beside their tomb, honoring them as a couple, and honoring those for whom they symbolize, Black farmers engaged in a battle for life and livelihood. We linked hands, arms, and hearts. We prayed, we spoke words of grace, and we experienced anew the commitment to faith, family, and the cause of the Farmer and family.

It was an unforgettable day in Tillery, North Carolina. In the rain. On the land.

Pictured at the tomb of the late Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant are, left to right, Bruce K. Grant (son), Gary R. Redding (grandson), Gary Grant (son), Charla and Waymon Hinson, and Evangeline Grant Briley and Gloria Grant Olds (daughters).

Doorbells and tenant farming

The doorbell rang yesterday afternoon. I was home reading and writing, and our elderly neighbor dropped by with a curious question: "Do you have somebody to pick your pecans?"

My first thought was, "Of course not, we'll pick them ourselves." It was his next sentence that caught my attention: "We'll pick them on the halves and shell them as well."

See, we have this huge pecan tree on the west side of the house, and this year it is loaded with huge pecans. They are dropping, ripe and ready to eat. I've tried them, and they're good, but just haven't had the time or the energy to pick them.

Without checking with my wife, I agreed to the deal. Oops.

It was his "on the halves" comment that struck me. It harkened me back to the days of what I think is America's second plantation. Black farmers and White farmers alike worked the land as part of the tenant farmer, or the sharecropping system. The wealthy landowners purchased seed, implements, and all, and they provided a place for the farmer and his family to live. Some tenant farmers worked on the half and others on the quarter, all depending upon contractual arrangements and the will of the landowner. The system did not work well for the tenant farmer, generally speaking. The deck was stacked in favor of the landowner. Some landowners were on the up and up while other landowners were full of greed.

Debra Reid and numerous others explain the complications of the system. Even during the era of the New Deal, economic benefits which should have been passed on to the tenant farmer went into the pocket of the landowner. At the end of the harvest season, when all was settled, the tenant farmer had either broken even or was in the hole. Either way, the farmer and family had to stay on to farm another season under the same oppressive system, or move out in the middle of the night.

This was a dangerous time for Black farmers especially. They had to move far enough away to escape the wrath of the former landowner having a relationship with the new landowner so as to endanger the farmer and his family. And, those Jim Crow laws were a terror all of their own.

It's no wonder that many African American farmers and families chose to move to the city.

"Stand By Me"

James Melvin Washington’s “Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayer by African Americans,” a collection of 190 prayers covering 235 years, reveals on each of its pages the depth and breadth of emotion of the lived experience of an oppressed, yet tenacious and resolute people. Here is one that I find particularly moving, especially in view of what we're addressing on these pages, by Charles Albert Tindley, penned in 1905, entitled, “Stand By Me.”

When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me;
When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me.
When the world is tossing me,
Like a ship upon the sea;
Thou who rulest wind and water,
Stand by me.

In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me;
In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me.
When the hosts of hell assail,
And my strength begins to fail,
Thou who never lost a battle,
Stand by me.

In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me;
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me.
When I do the best I can,
And my friends misunderstand,
Thou who knowest all about me,
Stand by me.

In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me;
In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me.
When my foes in battle array
Undertake to stop my way,
Thou who saved Paul and Silas,
Stand by me.

When I’m growing old and feeble,
Stand by me;
When I’m growing old and feeble,
Stand by me.
When my life becomes a burden,
And I’m nearing chilly Jordan,
O Thou “Lily of the Valley,”
Stand by me.

Challenging the silence

It was nearly midnight when my friend signed online and sent me an instant message. The conversation began just like many others we have had in the past. A polite and casual “What are you up to?” followed by my typical and mundane reply, “Not too much.” I thought for a moment as my fingers rested on the computer keyboard and I stared at the words I had just typed. The irony of my own words made me chuckle.

I clicked back onto the online article I had just been reading: “…USDA employees lobbying against Black Farmers…” It was almost too infuriating to believe. The injustice of it all…the outright discrimination…the lack of voices speaking out against the racism…the lives that are being damaged by the silence of those with power…

And there were my words. My silence. What was I doing? “Not too much.”

“Actually,” I said to my friend, “I am reading about the injustices that have been done to Black farmers.”

I could feel the confusion emanating from my friend hundreds of miles away as he read the words for the first time. “Why in the world are you doing that?”

I spent several minutes explaining how year after year land continues to be wrongfully taken out of the hands of black farmers and placed into the hands of white farmers; how the USDA has withheld financial support from black farmers that it does not withhold from white farmers; how people’s lives and families are being shattered by prejudice and discrimination that still exists within the USDA.

His response was disheartening, but yet, unfortunately, not unexpected. He resisted the idea that discrimination could actually occur in today’s world, with such awareness and sensitivity to racism. His first reaction was to deny and to look for plausible explanations. I understand his reaction. It feels better to believe that we have won this battle. But the truth is - we still have a long way to go.

I learned a good lesson from our conversation. I learned that I have a part to play in this battle, however small that part may be. My part is to challenge the silence about this problem, to start a discourse with others who deny unfairness, and to encourage others with a heart for justice to do the same.

Sarah Hugman

We missed it, but who was watching?

Do you and I remember the same thing? I was just a junior high kid living in East Texas. Where were you? Seems like it wasn't that long ago.

Falling strongly under the church's influence and its preachers as my "mother" and "father," perhaps what was passed on to me was also passed on to you. The context was a school meeting at which our preacher spoke, and at which time we recited the pledge of allegiance and prayed the Lord's Prayer. Don't actually recall if this was before the assembly or afterwards, but the preacher, good man though he was, influenced by the times though he was and we were, still, he led me astray. He insisted that praying the Lord's Prayer was wrong since the "Kingdom had already come." The church had arrived, so it was wrong to pray a prayer that had already been answered.

That one curious sound bite in time captures the theology of the time, that the church had arrived and that the church and the Kingdom were synonymous. Mike Cope does a good job of capturing these ideas in a recent blog. What had led up to that, you and I might ask. Our church historians say that there was a collision between the worldview of Barton W. Stone and his apocalyptic vision and the worldview of Alexander Campbell and his rational view of scripture. In the life and times of David Lipscomb, this clash played its way out, and the influence upon salvation of the individual came to the forefront as the church engaged meaningfully in the world receded into the background.

Placed over against salvation was the "social gospel," something that I knew as a kid was terribly, terribly wrong, despite the fact that I was clueless as to what it was. We were doing the right thing by preaching truths of the gospel and encouraging people to become followers of Christ, although it was languaged perhaps more succinctly as "join this church, or this movement," but we missed out on injustices in the world, a serious omission.

We did not do much in terms of feeding the poor and finding the homeless places to stay, and this was long before we could even think about ministry to the addicts alongside the road of life, despite the fact that they were indeed there. We did not speak as to the injustices of racism, segregation, and the Jim Crow laws.

We did not march with Martin Luther King, Jr. Neither did our African American churches and our brothers and sisters in those churches. A lot of people were marching with him, just not those of us from restoration roots.

We were doing right things, but not all of the right things. Maybe this time around we can get the people right, our theology right, and our activism right, to use Landon Saunders' phraseology from the recent ACU lectures.

Maybe there are causes for which we can march these days. Maybe it's not too late to protest for righteous causes.

Return to CRAT

In 1997 when the Civil Rights Action Team held their listening sessions in Albany, GA, New Orleans, LA, Halifax, NC, Belzoni, MS, and other places, they got an earful. Minority and limited-resource farmers recounted story after story of discrimination in the county offices of the FSA. If services were offered, delays and other things would block their usefulness.

More minorities were disapproved than non-minorities. In one state, 67% of African-American loans were approved and in another state 78%, which compared with 83% and 90% non-minority, makes things look pretty bad for the Black farmers of those states. In terms of processing times for loans, the process oftentimes took three times as long for minority farmers than for non-minority farmers. While limited-resource farmers have their own unique set of challenges given acreage, yield levels, problems with collateral, cash flow, etc., the sytem should not discriminate against Blacks versus non-Blacks.

Other problems were highlighted in the CRAT report such as lack of diversity on county committees, lack of availability of relief funding offered to White farmers, and lack of relief in the complaint processes, especially when the process leads back to the point at which the complaint was filed in the first place. Black farmers would often choose not to file a complaint because they were pessimistic about the potential outcome including fear of further reprisals. This was described as "the fox guarding the hen house (p. 24)."

One farmer is quoted in the CRAT as saying, "when hearings officers rule for the agencies, they were competent [upheld] 98 percent of the time, but when they ruled for the farmer, these same hearing officers were incompetent [reversed] over 50 percent of the time....This is indisputable evidence of bias and discrimination against a whole class of farmers..... (p. 24)."

Another farmer said, "I felt like that if I enter a complaint, then that would just speed up (the) foreclosure process on me. And I didn't want to do that, because some farmers, they already have complaints in with Farmers Home. And it didn't do them any good (p. 24)."

A graphic illustration was described by a farmer in the southeast: ".....and we never received our moneys on time. We never received our moneys on time. Which normally you would get a check November/December so you could start paying for the upcoming year. But I’ve never received a loan to my memory, it was already into the operating years, most of the time it was April when I received the money. My records would show that, that it was mostly in April when I would receive my loan. Too late to plant, actually to receive the total benefits from your crop that it was able to produce the maximum amount of production. It was too late to get that, receiving your moneys in April. You plant in maybe the last of April and May. You never would see the full benefits of the production from the crop."

He was one of those few who prevailed under the Pigford Class Action Case, so he still owns the land and is on the land, working the land, but it hasn't been easy. It's been far more difficult than for the average farmer in that area.

Advocacy and converts to the cause

Haugen has it right, I think, about advocates going, sending, and praying, but in this day and age there may be some other options. A while back Dr. Ridgely Mohammad asserted that if you want people to know something these days, put it out on a blog, especially for students to read it. That's a preferred mode of communication he said. I think he may be right. Just yesterday, I got an email from an advocate in Indiana who is wanting the word out about Harry Young and his plight in Kentucky. There is an earlier piece in this site about Mr. Young with links to various sources. We all need to network for causes that are important.

Another meaningful effort is simply word of mouth. So, over the weekend, while on a trip to Austin for a state board meeting, I was privileged to hear my son, Micah P., perform in the 6th Street area. Beforehand, a meaningful conversation started between the musician he was opening for, Will Johnson of Centromatic, and Will's mother. That conversation spilled over into Sunday lunch when Micah P., Will, my wife, and I were able to talk about music, social justice songs, and advocacy. "I'll look into it" was Will's comment. Micah P. is already a "convert to the cause," and is currently working on lyrics and music for a song about the plight of the Black farmer. Maybe we'll pitch those words out some day soon.

So, advocacy and "converts to the cause" can occur in the oddest of situations. It was just a family weekend, one filled with birthdays and music.

The farmers' cause got a shout-out. Maybe it'll lead to a convert.

We can hope and pray.

Championing justice and going, sending, praying

Gary Haugen's book, Good News about Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World, is compelling reading. He challenges us to "take up the challenge," and to reflect upon our hope in God who is a God of justice, compassion, moral clarity, and rescue. Especially convicting is his quote: "Let there be no mistake, evil and injustice thrive on moral ambiguity, equivocation, confusion, and the failure to commit. Remembering that injustice is the abuse of power, we must know that injustice is strong, forceful, committed. In every case it will prevail against the uncertain, the unsure and the uncommitted" (p. 90).

He's keen on planning: get the facts, substantiate the facts, and collect all related evidence. There are risks along the way. There's the risk of developing trust and asking the hard questions that validate the injustices while those mistreated simply know because they were there. There's the risk of physical harm. There's great need for medical and legal experts, for those with expertise in gathering information.

In his final chapter, Haugen asserts that we are all qualified to seek justice. Every Christian can do one of three things: go, send, or pray.

So, readers of this post today, are we, you, me, and the collective us, going, sending, or praying?

Hopefully we're doing some of all three.

Two ways to lose the land told in one story

The email came out of the blue. He'd been referred by someone in another state. "Can you help my family?" was the question. "I don't know; what is the problem?"

And, thus began the dialogue via the telephone and the internet about a complicated story on one level, but one which may be rather simple on another level.

The story must and should be told, but it has to be done so with permission and with anonymity assured. The family wants people to know that these things take place in America, and that they take place too often with the African American citizens of our country.

Land has been in this family for several generations. It has been farmed, and it is currently being farmed though on a small scale. The land is rich in gravel, so a gravel contract was signed. The money for the gravel was delivered. Then, a contract for the sale of the land, complete with forged signature, was deemed legitimate. The contract for the gravel was a miniscule sum of money by comparison to the value of the land. Only a fool would sell that much land for that small a sum.

The family lost the land. Then, in court, with proof of forgery, the land was returned to this family. This time the family obtained clear title to the land. It is their family's property. No doubt about it.

Then, a demand letter arrives in the mail. Someone is now claiming to own a portion of the land. Unless it is sold as demanded, a partition suit will be filed in court. Who has sold his or her portion of the property? To whom has it been sold? The family can't find out the answer to the first question. The answer to the second question looks to be an attorney who was involved the first time around.

Begin to look suspicious? For some of us, this looks like a good case for a conspiracy theory which must be discounted because "these things don't happen in America." For some of the rest of us, this looks like land loss, theft of land, loss of land via one of a number of nefarious means, and in the words of Clenora Hudson-Weems, a "lynching."

I have no idea what is going on around the country with regard to exploring these matters, but at least one state legislature may be doing something about it.

This family is holding on desperately to the family land. Their legacy is on that land. The elderly family members are dying. Someone wants that land badly, really, really badly. I wonder why. The suspicion is that the land is very valuable. There's natural gas beneath that land.

No wonder somebody wants it and will go to any lengths to get it.

One way to insult a Black farmer

I've never been a farmer. Grandfathers on both sides were farmers, and my father worked in the woods hauling pulpwood for a paper mill and driving a bulldozer for a wealthy rancher back in East Texas. Those were all proud people. Proud, but poor. Hardworking, salt of the earth folks.

I've met some other proud people, people who were modest in possessions, but proud of their heritage, culture, and skills on the farm. One says he was the first to go to the no-till method of planting cotton in his area. When I met him he was driving a truck. He'd been washed out of farming. I could tell he was suffering from a broken heart and shattered dreams.

There are lots of ways of insulting people and one way for insulting a Black farmer is to make him work under a supervisory contract. He applies for operating loans, and the money comes in, but the county supervisor makes him appeal to him (or her as the supervisor is sometimes a woman, though not often) each and every time funds are needed to replace a tractor part or a part for a plow or whatever.

Black farmers observed their White counterparts working the land, growing their crops, spraying herbicides, and other things while they were driving up and down the roads wasting time. One Black farmer said that he had to drive 30-40 miles to the tractor dealer, get a bill, take it to the FSA office and give them the bill so that could in turn wrote a check, and then he would take the check to the tractor dealer to purchase the part. Then he'd drive back to the farm to fix the tractor.

Let's see now. How many extra miles is that? At what cost per gallon of gas? How much time does that take? And, the time is taken away from what farming tasks? How many hours to take care of it directly? How many hours to take care of it in this circuitous manner?

And, at what cost to the human being working under that system? One farmer said it was "an insulting thing," and another, "they was treating you like a child, that you don’t have sense enough to handle your money," and "it was embarrassing," that "they did the blacks that way but they didn’t do the whites that way. "

Seems to me like they said it pretty well.

CRAT and its implications

I've been reading the CRAT. Yes, that's right, the CRAT, "Civil Rights at the United States Department of Agriculture: A Report by the Civil Rights Action Team." Published in February, 1997, it is a hefty document, one that is dry and tedious to read.

However, for me it was one more reminder of the nature of things. What the authors put on the page via summary flew at me via faces, places, memories, and stories of those whose lives and experiences form the backdrop of this summary report. It's an indicting report. And, from all appearances, we're not doing much better in 2007 than we were in 1997. Sad but true.

Agriculture Secretary Glickman saw the extraordinary outpouring of complaints of discrimination both within the USDA by its employees and from the outside in the lives and stories of farmers, especially "socially disadvantaged" farmers, African American, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, and women farmers. So, he decided to hold listening sessions around the country. At twelve listening sessions in eleven cities from Albany, GA, to Memphis, TN, to Window Rock, AZ, to Salina, CA, the team heard consistent stories of discriminatory practices, absence of accountability, lack of commitment to Civil Rights, lack of diversity on county committees, gross inequities in the treatment of minorities in FSA programs, lack of responsiveness to complaints, and the list goes on and on, and on and on.

Later there was a Civil Rights Implementation Team whose task it was to implement the 92 recommendations. Then, there was the Office of General Counsel's assessment of improvements. Not a pretty picture.

Next up will be more specific complaints that the CRAT folks heard. Again, not a pretty picture.

I've heard it exclaimed, "This surely can't be happening in America. We're beyond that."

Sorry, family and friends, but we're not.

Pigford and me

A year ago I knew virtually nothing of the plight of the Black farmer in this country, which certainly should not surprise anyone since I am a white female who is too far removed from racial discrimination. I learned of the injustices rather casually as I racked my brain figuring out to which research project I would contribute. Again, my introduction to the suffering and perennial discrimination came to me casually as I began working for Dr. Hinson as his graduate assistant where he passionately recounted stories from farmers he had interviewed just a year prior to my introduction. I began to read through voluminous transcripts of farmers from Georgia to Kansas, editing them for Dr. Hinson, and I gradually connected my heart to the stories of injustice, land loss, invisibility, and even stories of resiliency.

Dr. Hinson sent me to uncover articles about the Pigford Class Action Lawsuit of 1997, and I discovered for myself more blatant injustices through a bittersweet attempt to enact justice and equality. Ten years later the aftermath of Pigford still slowly trickles the waters of justice for some farmers while others are left waiting for their day to be heard. Particularly heartbreaking, frustrating, and confusing is the fact that 90% of Black farmers were excluded from the mitigation process of Pigford, and many who were included were told to find “similarly situated white farmers” to accumulate evidence building a case of discrimination in order to gain any reparations from the USDA. These examples from the Pigford case told me that justice is agonizingly slow and even discriminatory in this country, which for people like me is surprising and disheartening. For many others this is life. I pray a prayer of justice and hope, and I rejoice when those whose casual introductions to the plight of the Black farmer transforms into a passionate and compassionate pursuit of justice and advocacy in whatever ways that may arise.

Michelle Finley