Troubling My Soul

Few things trouble my soul quite like the challenges the Grant family in Tillery, NC has with holding on to their farm. Their story is well chronicled in many places on the web. Gary has been an activist since he was a youth. His sister, Van, likewise. My wife and I love them and respect them deeply.

Please take the time to read the letter that follows. Pray for this family. Contribute to the cause of this family. Help us to help this family. They have given much to the righeous cause of justice, and justice especially for African American farmers.

This letter is addressed to Eric Holder, Attorney General of the US. Feel free to cut and paste it and send it on under your name.

TO:

The Obama Administration
Attention: Eric Holder, Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001


askdoj@usdoj.gov


FROM:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

Ph: ____________E-mail: _______________


RE: Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant - (Gary Grant v. USDA)


I am very concerned that the legal case of Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant vs. USDA was recently and unfairly thrown out by a North Carolina District Federal Court.

For over thirty years the Grant family has been fighting for justice and is now being buried once again in legalized minutia, with serious consequences. These are the facts that are not disputed: USDA has played a dangerous and proverbial game of “cat and mouse” offering the Grants, on three occasions, a settlement which never materialized, though never because the Grants rejected it. At the same time not one employee of USDA has been penalized, fired, or denied their retirement benefits. The USDA, whose employees perpetuated all the years of discriminatory policies against the Grants and other Black farmers, remains unscathed.

Now the courts are retreating from addressing these claims as they sense political pressure from right-wing ideologues and right-wing zealots such as columnist Andrew Breitbart and Representatives Steve King (R-IA) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who are trying to stop Black farmer settlements by arguing that there is “rampant fraud” among the claimants. Not only are these claims unsupported, but no one has ever made any such claims regarding the case of the Grant family. The “investigations” by Breitbart, King, Bachmann, and others are sadly more racialized witch-hunt than objective fact finding.

There have been many important struggles in the Civil Rights Movement. Discrimination against Black farmers is an important civil rights struggle today. The Grant family has been, and continues to be, part of the Black farmer leadership cadre. In what appears to be an effort to attack the leadership of this struggle, the USDA, Department of Justice, and various courts have singled out the Grant family and other families who have stood as part of the Black farmer leadership by drawing out their cases. Most recently emboldened by a shifting political climate, lower-level courts have single-handedly dismissed the legal demands of several leadership families. This is a stunning and legally unsound tactic that perpetuates the egregious suffering of Black farmers. This is all occurring while no one disputes that these families suffered devastating discrimination at the hands of local USDA officials.

Mr. and Mrs. Grant both died in 2001overwhelmed and broken-hearted because their government had failed them so miserably. As progressive farmers, their land and way of life, and their happiness and well-being had been racially exploited and were in serious jeopardy.

I want to add my influence and voice to support the settlement of the Grants’ legal claims. This tragic outcome can be readily remedied with the settlement they were promised and deserve through your thoughtful and rigorous leadership.

Regarding the struggle for equal treatment of the Black farmer, history will ask…. “What did you do?”

cc: Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) - http://hagan.senate.gov/contact/

Just a Few More Words

The previous post from today deserves a few more words.  As most of you who read the words on these pages know, I have been actively involved with the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association since 2005. A modest faculty renewal leave from Abilene Christian University led to an engagement with Gary Grant, President of BFAA. Justifiably so, this organization needed to check me out.  From there,  my wife and I went to Tillery in the summer of 2005 followed by trips to North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas to interview African American farmers who had experienced discrimination at the hands of the USDA.

That partnership led to Memphis, TN and a Black Summit, and then Summits in North Carolina, and even a modest role on the board of BFAA.  Interviews with both Black and White farmers in the region.

Along the way, my role was very clear:  tell the stories of Black farmers in places and spaces where they will not or cannot go, explain the impact of discrimination and "farming while Black" on the health and well being of farmers and families, and get the stories and the health challenges to as broad an audience as possible.

Along the way we also developed four Social Justice Teams at ACU.  You'll find them within the pages of this blog.  Those people and those efforts flow through my veins unlike any other work with university students. To this day, those students and I talk on occasion about those days, and they tell me about what they are doing for the cause of justice in this world.  I am proud of them and the work we did.

At the 12th Annual Black Land Loss Summit, immediately after lunch, we assembled for the beginning of afternoon presentations and conversations.  First, there was an award to Rose Sanders, a hero in the fight for justice as she worked on behalf of farmers involved in the Pigford Class Action Suit.

It was then my turn to present.  Instead, Gary Grant asked for me to come forward.  I was in my own world of thinking about the presentation (it is noted a post or two back). He also called in Charla from the booth outside the conference hall.  I do not recall what Gary said, but I do recall the family gathering around, and Charla saying some words that only she can say in ways that only she can say them.  I whispered to Gary,"I'll say a few things in my presentation."  Photos were taken. 

I moved to the front to speak. Words would not come.  Emotions did. Words would not. It is not like me to draw a blank.  All I could say was "stunned."  Fighting through the tears, I babbled a few things and moved into the presentation.  Thankfully the moment is memorialized in the Commonwealth Progress.  There we all are. I looked stunned, Charla is in tears, the family is clapping, and one grandson looks on in curiosity.

So, I do not feel deserving of this award.  That is what some have said.  I am honored to receive the award named for a man who died before I came along.  I am honored to have on my wall an award in his name.  I love his family.

My wife and I are committed to the cause for which he and his beloved wife died.

That is the best that I can do.

There is much to be done.

The Committee to Save Education

Our last event in North Carolina was also one of the more interesting. We know that community involvement and education are important to Gary Grant, and we knew that he was serving on a committee to save community schools a few miles away.

Tired though we were, we traveled where he traveled, this man of boundless energy. We drove to the New Birth Tabernacle Church, Scotland Neck, NC, for a 7:00 pm meeting chaired by Clure Evans. A full agenda was printed for all, and with the crowd small, and the meeting not yet begun, we followed Gary's lead and met all attendees. The crowd got larger as the evening wore on. Young and old, men and women. Workers and retired. All were there.

Gary asked me to speak extemporaneously about the value of research. I stumblingly did so.

Seems like the county superintendent has left town, perhaps under pressure, and now the school board is selecting a new one, and at the top of the agenda is revisiting the closure of schools in this predominantly black area of rural NC. Middle School kids will begin the day after riding buses to school across the county, literally across the county. By report, these kids will get on the bus at 6:10 and not get home until after 5:00. The time on the bus will be approximately 4+hours for each kid. Now what's right about that? School buses are cool, but not when you have to live 1/5 of your day on them. I hear it's a major challenge for school bus drivers and for parents as well.

Several things were remarkable: 1) there were several Black men who were leaders there, one the mayor, another the committee leader, another an officer at the local armory who volunteered the armory for a meeting, and an experienced community organizer; 2) the passion with which people were willing to be organized in a meaningful effort; and 3) the amazing skills of the senior gentleman in the crowd, a man I referred to under my breath to my wife as "the consummate community organizer."

Normally in the Black community is led by women. Not a bad thing. That's a good thing. Good women are needed in righteous causes. It is not the normal for some many young men to step up to the plate to lead important matters. Gary wanted us to note that. We did. They all spoke, they were informed, and my prayers are with them.

To top off the evening, we had great fried chicken at the best restaurant in the town, and we got to spend time with a young man with a bright future as a community organizer. He is young and unassuming, but he is willing to be tutored by Mr. Grant. Clure Evans will be a force to be dealt with over the next few years. I didn't get the officer's name.

Another gift to this community is a community organizer who had just moved to Scotland Neck with her husband who was originally from this area. Ms. Norfleet did the same things back in New York. Lord, bless her efforts. And, she is a licensed minister of the gospel.

I hear that 30+ attended this particular protest march and another 75+ attended a protest march at another school in the area. Who is watching?

"So, Lord, if indeed it's the case that people rise up at certain moments, in certain times for certain causes, could it just be that your hand is upon Gary Grant, Clure Evans, the officer, Ms. Norfleet, and the others who were there and not there that evening? Thanks for allowing us to see community organization in action. Bless that community. Bless that committee. Bless those kids as they endure long hours on the bus. Bless that school board and lead them to reopening those closed schools and opening up those closed neighborhoods. May your Kingdom come and your will be done in Scotland Neck, NC, as it also should be done in Ada, OK."

What's in your iPod?

Early mornings these days continue to be filled with an attempt to regain some sense of normalcy. The early hours of the day are filled with the routine of getting out to the track at ECU here in Ada, Oklahoma, jogging a few miles, rehydrating with Gatorade, and all the while listening to tunes via the shuffle mode on my iPod. After several years of running without music to listen to and run to, it was time to make that change.

One of the most interesting albums on my playlist is "Wade in the Water," released in 2005 by the Joyful Sound Gospel Choir in Tillery, NC. The members of the choir come from the Tillery Resettlement community and are committed to raising funds to give back to that community.

The CD was recorded live at the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, Highway 561, Tillery, NC on March 25, 2005. Proceeds go to the work of the Concerned Citizens of Tillery. In fact, if you write CCT, PO Box 61, Tillery, NC 27887, they'll probably sell you a copy.

The list of songs? All amazing. Sung with passion and energy. Here's the list: Precious Memories, Fly Away, Heaven On My Mind, Walk with Me, I Shall Not Be Moved, In the Valley, Oh! Freedom, Amazing Grace, Ship of Zion, Steal Away, I Know I Been Changed, Get Aboard,
Wade in the Water, and Amen.

Check out this link for how it was used to spotlight the documentary, "We Shall Not Be Moved."

Your playlist is incomplete with this CD.

Memorable quotes from a memorable Summit

"The Watermelon Man can sure tell a story."

“Make our friends bigger and our enemies smaller.”

“You kicked some serious butt this morning.....I thought I was just telling the truth.”

“Trust will never come without addressing the imbalance of power.”

“I could feel the energy in the room.”

“We’re still in the kitchen.”

“I’m a farmer.”

“If you get to where you’ve been, you’ll get back to where you were.”

“Can we move from proving discrimination to exploring privilege of whites?"

“Net metering”

“It's barely 7:30......Your 7:30 lasts eight minutes.”

“How much courage did it take to call me by my first name?”

“The feels like a family vacation.”

“Johnny Rivers, South Carolina, $46K, $3 million”

“We want to earn your trust and your respect.”

“Competency, communications, customer focus, integrity”

“Spend some time to get to know us.”

“Almost over”

“65,000 denied”

“Potential cause of action”

“Right to file a new lawsuit, not to get you into Pigford”

“No reason to believe it will be like Pigford”

“Approved comments”

“We don’t do what we do very well.”

“Olive branch”

“Senior guidance”

“Hand hold you over to the right program”

“Limited, socially disadvantaged, minority, Black”

“I want to believe what I’m hearing.”

“Partition sale, nefarious, complicated, speculator, location of heirs, I’ll buy, co-equal tenant, auction, land lost”

“Stops the bleeding”

“A necessary class action”

“Glickman admitted”

“Floor….if income is below $15, then you don’t qualify for these programs.”

“Didn’t impact the rich but did the poor”

“Truth”

“There's healing in the telling”

“Faithful witness to the telling of your stories in places you can’t or won’t go”

“Acknowledgment of wrong-doing”

“Remediation, reparations, compensation for harm”

“Policy makers versus implementers”

“We can reconcile only if you the victims remain the victims.”

“I want my cow back, and the calf she bore.”

“What’s comparable to the cow?”

“The perpetrators do not get to set the rules for reconciliation and forgiveness.”

“James Cone says that the cross and the lynching tree must be placed side by side.”

If you find yourself curious about the context of these quotes, feel free to write and ask. My students and I will be happy to discuss these things with our readers.