Faces on the Farm

A gentleman who is hip deep in activism on behalf of the Black farmer mentioned recently that he thought that one of the problems with the Black farmer movement is that there has never been a visible "face" of a farmer with which the cause could be identified. He's probably right. Did not the broken, beaten, and almost unrecognizable face of Emmett Till help to galvanize the Civil Rights Movement? Did not photos of Rosa Parks inspire us to action? Did not the face of Martin Luther King as he rivetingly spoke to us through the television screen move us?

What "face" should be the face of the righteous cause of the African American farmer? They are many. What "face," etched with life experiences will become the "face" with which we identify?

Should it be the face of the gentleman, now deceased, standing beside his mule in Tillery, North Carolina?

Should it be the face of the man in Owensboro, Kentucky who has had his land taken from him because he hasn't paid back a loan he never received?

Should it be the face of the elderly gentleman or his wife or his angry son in central North Carolina, all of whom agonize in different ways over the loss of land and livelihood?

Should it be the face of the elderly woman is south Georgia as she describes her life, husband, family, and the crops she'll work on that day?

Should it be the face of the man in Pavo, Georgia who lives in his single-wide under the oak tree along the sandy road named in honor of his deceased wife?

Should it be the men, father and son, in central Oklahoma who are still grieving the injustices wrought upon them and their family?

Should it be the resilient gentleman in central Kansas who is a activist like no other who believes in his right to his choice of livelihood, the man who refuses to give up?

Should it be the farmer out in west Texas who has faced numerous odds but still owns his land?

Should it be any one of countless thousands of named and unnamed African American farmers, male or female, whose faces will never be seen outside of their feed store, or local church, or street in smalltown USA? The ones whose stories will never be told?

Which "face" will it take to capture the hearts of people with passion and the minds and decision-making abilities of people in power to right these wrongs. Who is taking note of their faces? Who is telling their stories?

Just wondering.