NBFJA Awards over $450,000* to Black Farms and Land Collectives Through its Resource Commons Initiative

May 19, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Pictured: M. Dominique Villanueva, co-founder of Fountain Heights Farm, Birmingham, AL

“Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality.” 

el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz

(ATLANTA, GA) On this day, commemorating the 98th birthday of el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X, we are pleased to share the announcement of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance’s Resource Commons and its pilot funding program awarding over $450,000 to seven Black-led farms and land collectives based around the continental US. We recognize the irrefutable connection between land and self-determination, a cause so many of our beloved ancestors struggled and died for, and see this initiative as a means for supporting the creation of sustainable and nourishing foodways for Black and marginalized people around this country.

In the Fall of 2022, NBFJA member organizations were invited to submit letters of intent to the Resource Commons’ pilot program. Out of 15 submissions, eight were selected to submit proposals and received investment recommendations by an appointed member-led body, the Resource Commons Council. The recipients of the pilot funding are Siyanda Land Collective (Lisman, AL), Sankara Farm (Kansas City, MO), Nature’s Garden for Victory & Peace (Tuskegee, AL), iLOGIC at Solomon’s Garden (Greene County, AL), Fresh Future Farm (North Charleston and rural SC), Foxfire Ranch (Waterford, MS), Fountain Heights Farms (Birmingham, AL), and Black Dirt Farm Collective (Prince George’s County, MD). The various ways in which the funding will be used include purchasing or refinancing land, building infrastructure, making equipment advancements, and strategic development. 

Born out of a desire to increase self-determination amongst Black farmers who have been systematically stripped of opportunities and access over the past 100 years, the purpose of the Resource Commons is to make strategic investments in farm enterprises and to remove land from the speculative market to preserve, protect, and reclaim land for the stewardship of Black farming collectives in non-extractive, agroecological ways. 

“The concept for the Resource Commons initially emerged out of conversations amongst founding Alliance members many years ago, so it is an honor to help usher it into fruition,” said Kenya Crumel, the Director of the Black Land and Power Initiative at NBFJA. “Our members, and Black farmers in general, deserve access to non-extractive capital so that they have one less obstacle blocking them from their goals. I am filled with excitement in anticipation of witnessing them grow and sustain their ventures as we collectively work towards land justice and food sovereignty.”

This initiative is a historic feat for the national movement of Black organizing around food and land, and we continue to recognize whose shoulders for which we stand. We are also committed to honoring our Indigenous partners in this work towards land reclamation. Collectively, we will create a just food and land revolution. 

National Black Food and Justice Alliance 

Established in 2015, the National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA) is a coalition of Black-led organizations working towards cultivating and advancing Black leadership, building institutions for self-determination, and organizing for food sovereignty and land justice. NBFJA currently has over 50 member organizations representing hundreds of urban and rural farmers, organizers, and land stewards based throughout the U.S.. NBFJA members are building power through an intergenerational, urban/rural alliance of organizations that trains, connects and deepens grassroots efforts toward protecting Black land, advancing food sovereignty, and supporting a climate resilient future.

Resource Commons

Established in 2021, the Resource Commons (RC) is an initiative of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance (NBFJA) that focuses on strengthening the foundation for Black food sovereignty through two distinct but related strategies. Those strategies are liberating land from the speculative market and securing it for sound ecological, social and financial stewardship by rural and urban Black farmers, foresters, and community gardeners; and defending land at risk of being taken from Black people via heirs property rules, discrimination in lending, or eminent domain or other threats. 

The Resource Commons, grounded in our values of deep democracy and cooperation, is helmed by an appointed council composed of representatives from NBFJA member organizations and collectives. The seven appointees on the inaugural Resource Commons Council are Carlton Turner, Mississippi Center for Cultural Production in Utica, MS; Jenga Mwendo, Backyard Gardeners Network in New Orleans, LA; Tahz Walker, Earthseed Land Collective in Durham, NC; Asantewaa Harris, Sister's Heath and Wellness Collective in New York; Ed Whitfield, Delta Commons in the Mississippi Delta region; Mike Strode, Kola Nut Collaborative in Chicago, IL; and Çaca Yvaire, Northeast Farmers of Color Network in the Northeast region of the US. 

For press inquiries, please contact LeeAnn Morrissette: leeann@blackfoodjustice.org   Fundraising and development inquiries: grants@blackfoodjustice.org  

Finance related inquiries: kenni@blackfoodjustice.org