Featuring: Gail Myers, P.hD., Co-founder Farms to Grow, Inc
When: Friday, April 8th 3:30-5:00 PM PST
Where: Via Zoom

Since the Civil War, African American agrarians have been constrained by various power structures. Following emancipation, most Black families were sharecroppers or tenant farmers with restricted social, political, and economic mobility. Nonetheless, in 1910, 920,000 Black families managed to own or partly own 12 million acres of farmland and farm over 16 million acres. How did these families, who 50 years prior were enslaved, develop these farming communities?

In this talk, Dr. Gail Myers explores the key factors for the growth and endurance of Black farming communities, including rural connectedness, maintenance of agrarian traditions, and the planting of legacy foods such as okra, purple hull peas, butter beans, sweet potatoes, and greens. Despite facing tremendous barriers, Black farmers created legacies of wealth through food, community support, and mutual accountability.