Moderated by the Tuskegee Public Dialogue Team in partnership with the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center, the Black Harvest Series is a forum for open and honest conversation.
Built as a three-part series, each segment of the forum is sponsored by Southern SARE and Tuskegee University. Each part of the series will host groups who support Black producers in the South. By increasing contact and promoting dialogue between groups like non-governmental organizations, 1890 Land-Grant Institutions and Black farmers, the organizers hope to increase collaboration on key issues and promote existing programs and opportunities.
The series will be held over several weeks with the goal to document and disseminate efforts to support Black producers in the South. Designed to be a conversation, participants are encouraged to listen to others and share their stories to gain a deeper understanding of the support system for Black producers in the South.
“We were very intentional about making the series as engaging as possible,” said Lindsey Lunsford, a Sustainable Food Systems Resource Specialist at Tuskegee University.
In the first session, representatives from NGOs and community-based groups met in a virtual setting to discuss the challenges and opportunities around them. They also shared stories of on-going efforts to support black farmers and landowners.
In the second session, held on November 4th, the forum hosted 1890 Land-Grant Universities. Again, the conversation revolved around similar topics like the digital divide, the difficulty of transitioning farmland, new production practices and the need to access new sources of financial capital.
“We’ve seen some similarities in what people had to say at each part,” said Lunsford, who has been documenting the feedback and dialogue of the series.
Kevin King, a visual artist, helped further document the forum. Listening to the stories shared, he transformed them into a work of art at the end of the session.
The third and final session of the Black Harvest Series will be held remotely on Nov. 18, 2020 at 11 a.m. CST. Black producers from across the south are invited to gather and discuss challenges, success stories and points of collaboration.
To register, please visit the link below.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJElcOuuqD4uE9GShiwveM7NpmCgZNT49Wdf