City Corridor Seattle, Black Farmers Collective Host Panel Devoted to Black Liberation

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by Chamidae Ford

In honor of Earth Day, Seattle City Hall and the Black Farmers Collective (BFC) hosted a virtual panel dedicated to black liberation.

The Black Farmers Collective consists of three Black Farms: YES Farms, Brown Egg Garden and Small Ax Farm.

“Our vision for the organization is the future of the liberation of blacks through food sovereignty,” said Cameron Steinbeck, BFC Executive Secretary, “in spaces that are based on collaboration and connection with the environment and the community and where our knowledge and creativity are limitless. Our mission is to build a black-run food system by building a cooperative network of food system actors, acquiring and managing land, facilitating food system education, and creating a space for blacks to be liberated in healing and joy. ”

Several guest speakers discussed how they found comfort and joy in farming.

Hannah Wilson, the farm manager at YES Farm, expressed how her own experiences led her to join the Black Farmers Collective.

“The way I walk the world as a strange, deaf, mixed race has really given me so many tools to dream and work towards black liberation and food sovereignty,” said Wilson.

Wilson explained how for a long time the environmental field felt like a room only for white, capable men.

“Growing up, I hadn’t seen any celebrated role models for black leaders in environmental work or enjoyed spaces while hiking or camping,” said Wilson. “I didn’t see any queer or disabled leaders in these rooms either. Because of this, I’ve never really seen myself in the field of the environment or agriculture. ”

Over the years, Wilson has learned how systematic racism played a role in the environment and food systems, inspiring her to devote her life’s work to environmental issues facing BIPOC communities.

“I began to see the intricate interfaces of my own identity reflected in the way those responsible for environmental justice talked about the composing factors that create enormous inequalities and environmental health in this country, with race being the most important factor for these things is. Said Wilson.

Devon Williams, a farm specialist at YES Farms, was also inspired to join the BFC by living experience. Growing up in a food wasteland made him aware of the lack of fresh, healthy foods that many BIPOC people face.

“Working with the Black Farmers Collective, we are committed to teaching our employees the benefits of healthy eating so they can grow and grow their own crops,” said Williams. “Over 70% of diseases are diet-related, and with no grocery stores in my community, it’s a pandemic for me and I’ve seen firsthand how it can affect people.”

Williams teaches community members not only the importance of eating and eating healthy foods, but also how to grow their own products. He hopes the collective will give community members more freedom of choice.

Nahr, the farm manager at Brown Egg Garden, spoke about the discrimination and annihilation they faced when trying to work in a field dominated by white men.

“Being trans and wanting to work in an environmental field is difficult,” said Nahr. “Being trans and wanting to exist in any environment is tough. I still have the same annihilation from others and myself and don’t even know I do it half the time. Likewise, being black and working in the environmental field is difficult – being black and being brown and existing is tough. “

Nahr shared how working at BFC has enabled them to see a space in which they can comfortably exist.

“Finding the Black Farmers Collective was a treasure for me. I could imagine what it could look like to create my own space to grow, ”said Nahr. “How important it is to feel safe in these rooms. How important it is to be vulnerable with people who have had experiences similar to mine. How important it is to let go of this guard and I’m still working on it, but let go of your guard so you can fill your own mug. How important community is in our work. Sharing knowledge and sharing food, abundance and joy, very simple things that seemed inaccessible to me because I am trans, because I am tanned, because I am neurodivergent, because I am someone with PTSD. “

For Nahr this work has become a source of consolation.

“What I found on my trip is that food will always be there to hold us,” said Nahr.

The last panelist of the night was Dr. Lisa Price, a naturopathic doctor. She compared the goals of the Black Farmers Collective to building a black mycelium, a term she learned from Dean Jackson, a black farmer and activist. Inspired by the subterranean body of a mushroom, it represents an enormous, expansive, and nutritious need for fertile fungal growth.

“The formation of a black mycelium – the formation of an interconnected network by people who have the freedom to seek freedom of choice and joy – requires living in an environment where we have access to nutrients that best support us,” said Dr . Price.

Black mycelium success relies on personal and community growth.

“Find an agency; Strengthen the individual without losing the whole. The point is actually self-actualization. Understand how you fit individually, ”said Dr. Price.

The mycelium represents a future that the Black Community can model itself on.

“We are looking for black joy and freedom of choice,” said Dr. Price. “Mushrooms can be a model for how we can strengthen ourselves with the goal of joy and freedom of choice. We are interconnected and ingesting beneficial nutrients that enable growth and expansion, as well as beneficial development. Our growth and expansion depend on our individual ecosystem and the physical health of our community. “

You can follow the event on the Seattle City Hall YouTube channel.

Chamidae Ford is currently a Senior Journalism Major at the University of Washington. Born and raised in West Washington, she has a passion for giving voice to the communities around her. She has written for The Daily, GRAY Magazine, and Capitol Hill Seattle. You can reach Chamidae Ford at IG / Twitter: @chamidaeford.

📸 Featured image: Nyema Clark from Seattle, founder and director of Nurturing Roots Farm on Beacon Hill. (Photo: Susan Fried)

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