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This episode features a conversation between Lawrence Lucas, host of the "Seeking Truth and Justice" podcast and radio show with a panel of young civil rights advocates and a former USDA employee. The panel discussed the struggle and challenges Black Farmers and Firefighters encounter seeking justice against systemic discrimination by the US Department of Agriculture.
This 30-minute video contains highlights of a panel discussion of the continuing struggles for truth and justice by Black farmers and some for US Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees. In addition, this video puts a name with a face of some of the farmers and friends who ares struggling in their fight for fairness and equity against the USDA. The video also pays tribute to a partial list of farmers, employees, advocates and supporters who have died over the years.
This 15-minute video highlights some of the continuing struggles for truth and justice by Black farmers and USDA employees. In addition, this video puts a name with a face to those who struggle and pays tribute to a partial list of farmers, employees, advocates and supporters who have died over the the years.
On April 12, 2024, Corey Lea, Executive Director Cowtown Foundation, Inc., hosted a virtual meeting. The following is an excerpt from a discussion on the plight of the Black Farmers in America and their fight for justice and equality against the Biden administration and USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack. This segment focused on the Black vote in the upcoming 2024 Presidentia election and whether the Black farmers should consider supporting Donald Trump or any other candidate who may emerge who will commit to representing the interests of Black farmers. For more information visit www.cotownfoundation.org.
On February 1, 2024, Corey Lea, Executive Director Cowtown Foundation, Inc., hosted a virtual town hall which was "A Call To Action for Black Farmers and Ranchers." The Biden administration has waged war on Black farmers and ranchers. Ultimately, President Joe Biden is working hand-to-hand with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to dispossess Black farmers and ranchers of the remaining 2.3 million acres. Watch this recording of the Black Farmers virtual town hall with Corey Lea and moderator Atlanta radio host Shelley Wynter as they engage Black farmers and advocates about the pitfalls set for Black farmers by the USDA and how Black America should reject the Biden administration at the ballot box in 2024. For more information visit www.cotownfoundation.org.
On September 6, 2023, Lawrence Lucas conducted an exclusive interview with Presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West. Dr. West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. He has written 20 books and is best known for his classics, "Race Matters" and "Democracy Matters," and for his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." His most recent book is "Black Prophetic Fire."
Black farmers have experienced a long history of government-sponsored discrimination, which has decimated the population of Black farmers in America today. Click the button below to read Senator Elizabeth Warren's position on addressing discrimination and ensuring equity for Black farmers and farmers of color.
This is 5-minute pictorial slideshow with music highlighting Black Farmers in America and their advocates in their struggle with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for equal rights in the form of loans, lending practices, harassment and other forms of discrimination.
The Biden administration has consistently looked the other way and made excuses for USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and his intentional delay of pandemic relief Black farmers. Black America should seriously consider new political representation. The Congressional Black Caucus, the mainstream news media and most of America appears not to have an interest in the plight of the Black farmers. This panel of farmers and advocates discuss the continued systemic discrimination at the USDA.
This Is "Must Read" Letter
This is one of the most comprehensive documents explaining the plight and struggle of the Black farmers with the US Department of Agriculture.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), a member of the House's Committee on Agriculture, introduced the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023, a comprehensive bill to address the sordid history of discrimination in federal agricultural policy. The Justice for Black Farmers Act will reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provide debt relief, and create a land grant program to encourage a new generation of Black farmers.
"This Black History Month, it’s important we recognize the unjust history of farming and agriculture in America. During the 20th Century, Black farmers lost over $300 billion worth of farmland and acreage – a loss that further exacerbated the wealth gap for Black Americans. That’s one of the many reasons why I’m proud to reintroduce the Justice for Black Farmers Act, which would enact policies to end discrimination within the USDA, protect the 50,000 remaining Black farmers from losing their land, provide land grants to create a new generation of Black farmers, and restore the land base that has been lost," said Congresswoman Adams. "Additionally, the Justice For Black Farmers Act provides substantial resources for 1890 Land-Grant Institutions to help Black farmers get up and running and includes funding for all HBCUs to expand their agriculture research and courses of study.
“I am proud to join Senator Booker in confronting our history, and opening the door to a brighter future with this bill," Adams concluded.
Original cosponsors in the House include Representatives Joyce Beatty, Sanford Bishop, Earl Blumenauer, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Cori Bush, Andre Carson, Jahana Hayes, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Melanie Stansbury, and Bennie Thompson.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the legislation in the United States Senate. Adams and Booker previously introduced the legislation in 2021.
Click the following link to read more: https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-adams-senator-booker-introduce-justice-black-farmers-act
In March 2023, the Justice For Black Farmers Group traveled to Washington, DC to protest outside of The White House to hold President Biden and USDA Secretary Vilsack accountable for the myriad of promises against Black farmers. Along the way, Senators Corey Booker and Elizabeth Warren met with the group to show their support.
March 14, 2023
Dear Senators and Representatives:
I am contacting you via phone and mail since you represent citizens of the State of _____and some of its most vulnerable citizens are under attack in Washington, DC by the USDA.
My understanding is that Texas has the most African American farmers of any state.
Understanding the trauma of land loss for Black farmers is oftentimes beyond our comprehension. It is not normally within our experiences nor scope of understanding. In this brief, bulleted summary, I hope to line out key events and facts about why we are pressing for debt relief and compensation for damages done to
February 22, 2023
White farmer, white farmer
Why are you so mean?
You got your land and more
You want a lot more it seems.
White farmer, white farmer
From where do you originate?
From England, Ireland, Scotland
From north to south you’ll spread your hate?
White farmer, white farmer
How much land do you need?
Are you really seizing theirs?
Why you all bound up with greed?
White farmer, white farmer
You know you got all the benefits.
You sit at the head of the table,
Black folks see your land grabbin’ blitz.
White farmer, white farmer
Do you know Jesus as Lord?
Then why do you do what you do
To seize their land by crook or the sword?
White farmer, white farmer
We know that you are in cahoots.
We see your wicked machinations
Lying awake at night, counting your fruits.
White farmer, white farmer
This land is your land.
You take that oh so literally so
With whom do you stand?
White farmer, white farmer
Friend of the county and the banks.
Black folks fear that you’re comin’
That you know how to fill in the blanks.
White farmer, white farmer
We know that you also work hard,
But your skin what’s that cost you.
When are you ever on your guard?
White farmer, white farmer
Got any conscience inside of you?
You watch them auction their land
And then what do you actually do?
White farmer, white farmer
You got your money, been saving a lot.
You sit on the sidelines at the auction.
We see your sinister plot.
White farmer, white farmer
How do you feel?
You got that land so cheap.
How does it feel to steal?
White farmer, white farmer
You know what I mean.
Don’t feign your ignorance
As you pick that carcass clean.
White farmer, white farmer
Pay day some day is what we know
When you meet your maker
Your grubby hands you’ll show.
White farmer, white farmer
Is it all worth the chase
To take someone’s land
Because you know their race?
White farmer, white farmer
You got them in your hands
Vilsack Biden and Big Ag Stop trying to steal our lands.
Wayon Hinson, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and marriage and family therapist, a researcher, and an advocate in matters related to social justice. He is a gifted storyteller in the search for justice for the oppressed and marginalized people.
To learn more about Dr. Hinson click the button below to visit his blog, “Let Justice Ring.”
Dear Mr. President:
Surely you agree with me that we live in perilous times with threats from Russia, domestic threats from balloons from China and other places, and threats to democracy here in our own country. While I think you are, by and large, handling those threats well, there is one threat that you, sir, are not handling well, and that is the prompt for this open letter to you.
You are mishandling the Black farmer issue. I am disappointed. I am bitterly disappointed and disillusioned with the manner in which you have handled the Black farmers of our land and their city cousins. Country cousins and city cousins are connected, know each other, and talk to each other.
We were very hopeful back in the day when your campaign looked to be going down the tubes, when Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina stepped up and endorsed you, and we saw the winds of your campaign change. We saw outstanding successes among the Democratic Party in Georgia for both you and Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock.
Then, Mr. President, we began to wince at what some of that change meant. We had fully engaged the campaigns of Senators Warren, Booker, Sanders, and Warnock, and we engaged with Mr. Mike Bloomberg. As the ticket of Biden/Harris won, we then engaged the agriculture transition team. Much to our surprise, the gentleman with whom we had been working on this team and your policies was not actually the person in charge. We realized that former Ag Secretary Thomas Vilsack was pulling strings from behind. We were advocating for changes within the USDA, for accountability and transparency, and for full debt relief for aggrieved Black farmers. Then, in one particular meeting we heard that what we wanted was "unconstitutional." One of your team members, an attorney, told us that. We were flabbergasted.
Then, we watched with much interest as a variety of people pressed you both publicly and privately not to appoint Tom Vilsack to another term as Secretary of USDA. Much had been written about the failures of his two terms under President Obama, and despite opposition from congressional folk and the NAACP leadership, the Justice for Black Farmers Group, and the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, and others, you nominated him anyway. And then we observed the "love fest" at the senate confirmation hearing and I, for one, was nauseated and alarmed.
We were hopeful despite these things at the beginning of your presidency and now we are not so hopeful. We see where the winds of change have taken us. They have taken us down the road of "Big Ag," and because of that Vilsack, who is owned by Big Ag, is your Secretary of Ag. We want to know if you indeed are also beholden to Big Ag or is it just Mr. Vilsack. We have our suspicions, and we'd like you to dissuade us of them. We see how Big Ag is getting the major source of funding from USDA. We also see that Vilsack's favored organizations are getting millions of dollars despite there being no open application process.
What did you miss from the messages of "don't appoint Vilsack?" When you were making decisions about your cabinet, and what voices did you ignore? What about his previous terms did you respect? What did you anticipate being different under your administration? Were you indebted to Tom Vilsack in some manner?
Surely you know because your team has done its research that he has an incredibly spotty history: a class action suit by Black state employees in Iowa, extreme favoritism of white, corporate Ag, and a racist, dismissive attitude toward socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Research about Vilsack has been published in numerous places under numerous names such as Lloyd Wright in the Washington Post, Rosenberg and Stucki in numerous publications where investigations are published, and even me here on this blog.
Click here to read the rest of the letter.
A farmer’s life is never an easy one. But for many African American farmers, their work has been complicated by discrimination and often at the hand of government officials. Michelle Miller looks at that history and the efforts to address it.
Mr. Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, facilitated a show with Black farmers on the "Speak The Truth" show.
The following 8:00 minute slideshow was created by Gary A. Johnson (Publisher Black Men In America.com and Justice For Black Farmers.com), to educated the average American citizen who knows little or nothing about the plight and the challenges of the Black American Farmers.
There are things that people should know about the Black farmers and there are reasons why all of us should care. This video tells a fraction of the story regarding the challenges of the Black farmers and their legal battles with the government. Systemic and pervasive racism, incompetence and broken promises by the USDA, are just a few of the challenges facing Black farmers and their families.
This is also an example of “Farming While Black.” Thousands of Black farmers are saddled with debt, have exhausted their savings and lost their farms, eliminating any chance of building generational wealth. For more information visit www.justiceforblackfarmers.com and www.blackmeninamerica.com/black-farmers.
For this "Speak The Truth" special on the challenges and opportunities facing the Black farmers in America, Host Harold Bell and Moderator Lawrence Lucas as they welcome our special guest Corey Lea, Executive Director of The Cowtown Foundation, Inc., and several Black Farmers. Featured clips include Senators Raphael Warnock and Corey Booker (the Addendum at the end of the video) questioning US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
For more information visit: www.justiceforblackfarmers.com and www.blackmeninamerica.com/black-farmers.
John Boyd, Jr., Founder and President, National Black Farmers Association, is a 4th generation Black Farmer in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Boyd sued the US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) and received a Fact of Finding for Racial Discrimination Based on Race Black which led to the 1st USDA Discrimination settlement by an individual. Boyd went on to assist 10,000s of other Black and minority farmers to file discrimination complaints, lawsuits and class actions against USDA. KJ "Skippa Mak" Marley, son of Kymani Marley, is an international hip-hop artist infusing reggae and dancehall, while invoking the unmistakable musical spirit of his legendary grandfather Bob Marley to speak Truth to Power.
Justice for Black Farmers: The Law, Policy, and Politics of Debt Cancellation. The Department of Agriculture’s civil rights record is among the worst in the federal government. Black farmers have lost hundreds of billions in land and income since 1910 in large part due to federal policies—implemented by USDA—designed to drive them out of business. Panelists: Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees Tracy Lloyd McCurty, Executive Director and more.
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The USDA Coalition of Minority Employees was founded in 1994 to address discrimination within the United States Department of Agriculture. The biggest coalition accomplishment thus far is the passing of the American Rescue Plan from President Joe Biden in 2021 which creates a multi-billion dollar fund for socially disadvantaged farmers throughout the United States. The coalition has worked alongside Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker to create the Justice for Black Farmers Act, which will go on to give even more aid to socially disadvantaged farmers.
The number of black farmers in America peaked in 1920, when there were 949,889. Today, of the country’s 3.4 million total farmers, only 1.3%, or 45,508, are black, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture in 2019. By comparison, 95% of US farmers are white.
We want to hear from you about how you can help get justice for black farmers and all farmers in need.
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