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A Note from Dara Executive Director & National Organizer
This year is absolutely our year for manifestation. We are inside of actualizing some of our greatest collective freedom dreams. Together. For the past five years, we have had the incredible opportunity to meet together, dream together, experiment together and build infrastructure together bringing our collective genius together into building a national Alliance. We have facilitated and struggled through many, many meetings and gatherings to determine our priorities, decision making, governance, bylaws and resource strategies to actualize the incredible work we know must happen together. We are now at an incredible point in time where we have the support, systems, people, resources, talent, capacity, determination and Ancestral blessings to finally turn all of these incredible ideations into some real concrete interventions and alternatives for our communities.
Our very first in person gathering as an Alliance was February 2016 at Penn Center in St. Helena. On that sacred land, we dreamed together. Played together. Learned together. And strategized together. Exactly five years later we have grown from 7 founding member organizations to nearly 40, from no staff to 7 brilliant and dedicated staff, from no budget (or using the cofounders’ personal resources) to a growing budget that actually allows us to get what we need, and some very clear goals and plans. This is the year for manifestation. We are excited that the mapping project that we identified at our very first meeting as a priority is finally launching soon! While there have been many maps released of Black farmers throughout the years- we wanted to make sure there was infrastructure to support the maintenance of our maps over time. We also identified a need to share stories from Black farmers and to also find ways to make it easiest for Black communities to access and find Black farmers (as Baba Malik Yakini says) “to get Black food to Black plates.” We are inside of building the food system and safe, nourishing land spaces we know we need and deserve and this mapping project allows for our very first important step towards seeing visually where we all are and connecting each other in meaningful ways. This project launch is exciting and the hard work of Dr. Jasmine Ratliff in addition to many many member organizations ideating over the years and planning together including and especially SAAFON, Black Church Food Security Network, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Farms to Grow and many others. Our work is only made possible because of the collective brilliance of our members on the front lines. Together, we dream, we map, we connect, we build and we make possible what our communities absolutely need and deserve: Connection. Safety. Nourishment. and a clear path towards our collective Liberation. More to come! So much more. |
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Black Food Map & Directory |
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We understand the need to radically shift from a white dominant power paradigm that is dependent on the extraction of Black wealth and labor for the purpose of resourcing a corporatized food system towards one of Black ownership over all parts of our labor, businesses and systems of monetization including the utilization of alternative economies including but not limited to cooperatives and shared economies.
The USDA has reported that there are roughly 44,000 Black farmers in the US. We have made intentional efforts to combine and collaborate with existing black food maps and directories to identify as many Black farmers and food producers to build a collective National Black Food Map & Directory.
To be added to the directory or if you know a Black farmer who would like to be listed, please have them complete this form. |  |
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All of the information collected will be used to identify and create opportunities to connect producers to community institutions and markets along with developing local maps of food infrastructure.
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For Black Farmers, Climate Change Magnifies Existing Inequality, Huahjia Zhang, January 19, 2021
Black Farmers in our area say long Legacy of Institutional Racism has led to their Disappearance, Anthony Hill, January 15, 2021
Black farmers face a slew of systemic challenges, Kai Ryssdal and Alli Fam, January 12, 2021
Grocery store aimed at addressing food insecurity in west Louisville official opens, Kristopher White, January 11, 2021
Activists seek community's help in closing racial wealth gap by creating a 'Black Economic Zone' in Durham, Crystal Price, January 10, 2021
121 Food Organizations to Watch in 2021, Food Tank, December 2020
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NEW FACES AT THE ALLIANCE |
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Join us in welcoming new members of the Alliance team! |
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Black Land & Power Coordinator, Kenya Crumel (she/hers) Kenya has 25 years of experience working in the community development field implementing and managing programs that build capacity of nonprofit organizations. She is most passionate about working on initiatives that increase the health and wealth of Black and marginalized people. Kenya is adept at organizing & conducting workshops, identifying & securing resources, evaluating & reporting on project performance, and building & managing partner relationships. |
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Grants Manager, Cicely Garrett (she/hers)
Cicely is a creative strategist and social entrepreneur adept at providing thought leadership and consulting services in areas such as design thinking, racial equity, environmental justice, food sovereignty, and grants management. Cicely holds a B.S.B.A. degree with a concentration in Finance and New & Small Business Management from Georgetown University and a Master of Public Policy degree with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from The George Washington University. |
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Dreaming Out Loud - Washington, DC Sipp Culture - Utica, MS Black Urban Growers - Brooklyn, NY Rodale Institute - Kutztown, PA Divest Ed (REMOTE) The Rising Majority - Tucson, AZ (REMOTE) |
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Freedom Farmers: Black Agriculture and the Origins of Food JusticeMonica M. White, Associate Professor of Environmental Justice, University of Wisconsin-Madison  Monica M. White
In the early days of COVID-19’s wrath, Detroit was a hot spot. Black Detroiters were disproportionately impacted, especially those most vulnerable due to pre-existing, diet-related illnesses. The city’s health-care system was unprepared and unable to manage the influx of patients in need of life-saving medical care. Lack of access to equipment and medical personnel in an under-resourced community created a preventable catastrophic event devastating to the Black community. Historical disinvestment and lack of access to preventative health care and nutrient-rich foods was the fuel and the virus was the fire.At the same time, the virus exposed the vulnerability of the nation’s food supply. Farm laborers, food processers, and those employed in food distribution were hit especially hard. The nation saw bare grocery store shelves and declared store clerks to be essential workers. These jobs pay minimum wage, are physically demanding, and often employ those who are impoverished and vulnerable. Food systems’ workers have always been essential.
Read More |
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We Will Not Cancel Us
And Other Dreams of Transformative JusticeCancel or call-out culture is a fraught topic these days. Originating as a way for marginalized and disempowered people to address harm and take down powerful abusers, often with the help of social media, it is seen by some as having gone too far. But what is “too far” when you’re talking about imbalances of power and patterns of harm? And what happens when people in social movements direct our righteous anger inward at one another? In We Will Not Cancel Us, movement mediator adrienne maree brown reframes the discussion for us, in a way that points to possible paths beyond our impasse.
adrienne maree brown (author), Malkia Devich-Cyril (afterword) |
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Repair
Redeeming the Promise of AbolitionKatherine Franke makes a powerful case for reparations for Black Americans by amplifying the stories of formerly enslaved people and calling for repair of the damage caused by the legacy of American slavery. Repair invites readers to explore the historical context for reparations, offering a detailed account of the circumstances that surrounded the emancipation of enslaved Black people in two unique contexts, the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Davis Bend, Mississippi, Jefferson Davis’s former plantation. Through these two critical historical examples, Franke unpacks intergenerational, systemic racism and white privilege at the heart of American society and argues that reparations for slavery are necessary, overdue and possible.
by Katherine Franke |
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Pssst. Interested in joining a Book Club where we devour more delicious books like these as well as other forms of political education?
Sign up HERE to receive more details. |
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togethernessAs we continue to redefine what it means to share space, show up and support each other in the wake of COVID, we thank you for continuing to show up for yourselves and to this necessary work. May our sense of togetherness be deepened with greater understanding on the value of community and role we each play. Be it from our living spaces or in the field, we have a responsibility to be heard. Together, we are indestructible.
We invite you to support our initiatives at the Alliance and the advancement of Black leadership in food justice by making a monetary contribution. |
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