Justice for Black Farmers: A Conversation to Uproot Racist Policy and Plant Seeds of Redress

Online event
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The introduction of the Justice for Black Farmers Act in 2020 and the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act of 2021 was the first time many Americans learned about the historical and ongoing discrimination against farmers of African descent by local farm service agencies and private entities like banks. Yet, it was only the latest chapter in the long saga of anti-Black racism in American farming. Join a panel of legacy farmers, critical race scholars, and a civil rights lawyer to learn about the grave injustices of the 1999 Pigford v. Glickman class action racial discrimination lawsuit, recent actions by the Biden Administration and Congress to rectify these wrongs, and what you can do to support a more fair and democratic farming system in the United States.

Speakers

• Bernice Atchison, Legacy Farmer from Chilton County, Alabama; Pigford Historian
• Cheryl I. Harris, Vice Dean for Community Equality and Justice and Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, University of California, Los Angeles
• Carolyn Jones, Legacy Farmer and Executive Director, Mississippi Minority Farmers Alliance
• Tracy Lloyd McCurty, Esq., Executive Director of Black Belt Justice Center; Co-Organizer of Black Farmers’ Appeal, Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign
• Angela Provost, Legacy Farmer and Co-Owner of Provost Farm, New Iberia, Louisiana
• Moderated by: Elsadig Elsheikh, Director of Global Justice Program, Othering and Belonging Institute, University of California, Berkeley

This event is being organized by the Berkeley Food Institute and co-sponsored by the Othering and Belonging Institute, the Goldman School of Public Policy, Berkeley Law, the Center for Race and Gender, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Black Students in Public Policy, UCLA Critical Race Studies Program, Department of African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies, Farms to Grow, Inc., Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the Black Belt Justice Center, the Mississippi Minority Farmers Alliance, Provost Farm, Black Farmers of Chilton County, Acres of Ancestry, and the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign.

For background readings and videos related to this event, please explore the following resources. Download and share.

Access Coordinator:

Nathalie Muñoz, namc93@berkeley.edu, (510)529-1533

CART Captioning will be provided. If you require any other accommodation for effective communication in order to fully participate in this virtual event, please contact Nathalie Muñoz at least 7–10 days in advance.