Over two decades ago Dr. Gail P. Myers, the co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc and director of Rhythms of the Land, interviewed her first 92-year-old elder on life and legacy of a sharecropper. During the summer of 2012, Dr. Myers toured 10 southern states -- Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida -- interviewing over 30 farmers, sharecroppers, and gardeners and a 5th generation coil basket weaver. Several of these interviews are with elders, 98, 92, and 109.
Rhythms of the Land fills the gap of the missing narrative after emancipation and honors black farmers as stewards of the land, love of family and community despite the overwhelming odds of life as a sharecropper. At times tender and other times jarring, it's an informative and moving film that I think you and your networks will love.
In the film you will meet Alvin Steppes, the one farmer who was most instrumental in the Pigford vs Glickman class action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture for racial discrimination in allocating loan assistance. Hear firsthand accounts from 92, 98, 109-year-old elders of the farming traditions, love of family, land, and community despite the exploitation and disparities of a sharecropper.
In this event, we will have a film screening followed by a conversation with the film's director Dr. Gail P. Myers and a subsequent panel discussion featuring farmers, chefs, food systems activists and scholars. More details will be announced soon.
The event is curated and moderated by Mike Harrington, Director of Sustainability Engagement at the university-wide Tishman Environment and Design Center and Dr. Kristin Reynolds, Chair of Food Studies in the Schools for Public Engagement. This event is part of the Tishman Environment and Design Center’s Earth Month events and the Food Studies’ Program’s “Food, Art, and Social Justice” 2022-23 series and co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program the Schools of Public Engagement.
The New School campus is wheelchair accessible and has elevator access to all floors. Service animals and assistive devices are welcome. If you have specific accommodation questions or needs, please contact us at least five days prior to the program at tedc@newschool.edu.
Masks are strongly recommended in indoor public settings on the campus, particularly in classrooms and other crowded indoor spaces. As we gather again after breaks, masks help mitigate increased risk for respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, flu, and RSV.
Presented by the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School and The Food Studies Program in the Schools of Public Engagement and Farms to Grow Inc.
Speakers
Dr. Gail P Myers
Dr. Gail Myers is a cultural anthropologist, creator of the film project, Rhythms of the Land and Co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc. In 1997, while pursuing her doctorate at The Ohio State University, she conducted her first interviews with African American farmers.
Her passion for Black farmers developed as a result of hearing stories of their loss and struggles without recognition for their contributions. For the last 23 years she has been interviewing, researching, writing about, and filming the stories of African American farmers. Myers is considered an expert in the anthropology of African American farming.
Rhythms of the Land documentary fills the void of these missing agrarian narratives and honors these sharecroppers, farmers, and gardeners.
Karen Washington
Karen is a farmer and activist. She is Co-owner/Farmer at Rise & Root Farm in Chester New York. An activist, food advocate; in 2010, Co-Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS) an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of their 100 most influential African Americans in the country and in 2014 was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award. In 2020 Essence magazine name Karen one of their Essential Heroes recipients, and in 2021 Forbes magazine named Karen one of their 50 over 50 impact list of women making a difference. Karen serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Gardens, Soul Fire Farm, the Mary Mitchell Center, Black Farmer Fund, and Green Workers Cooperative.
Dr. Mia White
Mia Charlene White is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies in the Environmental Studies Program at the Schools of Public Engagement, with a co-teaching appointment at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment. She is a faculty-affiliate of the Tishman Center, as well as with the Heilbronner Center for Capitalism Studies. She has a bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Political Science from the State University of NY at Stony Brook, a Master of International Affairs (Environmental Policy) from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and a Ph.D in Urban Studies and Planning (Housing and Environment) from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Given the diversity of her training, Mia's work is interdisciplinary and she situates herself among radical geographers (race geography) and applied anthropologists, planning/urban theorists (fugitive planning), radical sociologists/historians and those others seeking to link social science concepts of space and race, to the humanities via art and protest.
Iyeshima Harris
Iyeshima (eye-she-mah) started her mark in the food justice movement over 10 years ago. As a Jamaican native, she struggled with the process of assimilation into a new culture. Through farming she found great comfort in her community. Throughout her involvement in the movement, Iyeshima has taught food justice, advocated for universal free school lunch, assisted in the development and sustainment of youth-led organizations. She is dedicated to integrating youth empowerment and leadership into adult dominated sectors. With a double major of Political Science & Sociology, and current studies in Public Administration, Iyeshima wishes to combine her passion for food justice and her knowledge of American politics to drive the importance of food in people’s everyday life. Iyeshima is currently the Director of Youth Community Engagement at Green Guerillas and the Policy Manager at Equity Advocates.