Conference Highlights Power of Cooperatives

by Cheryl Wood Smith

The focus of this year’s Black Farming Conference was on the economic impact and power of the cooperative business model, with an emphasis on the power of growing your own food, from seed saving to community gardening and celebrating the contributions of our Black and underrepresented food and farming community.  

Each presentation not only informed and educated the audience but also inspired and energized those of us who have committed to this mission.  

In her opening keynote, Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard outlined the history of collective economics in the African American community that has rarely if ever been acknowledged or exposed. The historical and contemporary efforts she discussed gave us a viable blueprint for pursuing sustainable approaches to community development.  

She also highlighted the immense tenacity and determination demonstrated by these early cooperatives in the face of deliberate attempts to thwart the development of an economic base rooted in the community’s values. The legacy of obstruction lives on today in the social structures that undermine our efforts for self-sufficiency and the egregious attempts to deny us resources and the access we deserve. Cooperative organization as a tool for group empowerment provides a hopeful outlook in a time when we are ruefully challenged by the revitalization of racism and white supremacy.  

Malik Kenyatta Yakini, activist and educator, shared his extensive knowledge about the impact of racism and white privilege on the food system and his work to eliminate it. As executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food  Security Network, he has worked to bring nutrient-rich food to the people of Detroit and has also participated in the international food sovereignty movement.  

One of the highlights of Brother Yakini’s presentation was the virtual tour of the seven-acre organic farm known as D-Farm. The work being done there is a tribute to this brother and others he has inspired to bring sustenance and health to African Americans, both rural and urban. Their work during the initial outbreak of Covid-19, when Detroit was a major hot spot, provided much-needed supplies to the  Black community during quarantine. Their collaboration with other organizations committed to this cause provides us with a blueprint for future endeavors.  

He seamlessly tied food and agricultural apartheid into the greater struggle for equality and justice, comparing the eviction of tenant farmers and sharecroppers to the elimination of factory jobs in the auto industry in Detroit,  both of which led to food insecurity. People affected by these losses have participated in community-based food systems, said Malik, illustrating both resilience and resistance. It is impossible to overstate the value of Leah Penniman’s contributions not only to this conference but also to the fight to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to the land. Her expertise and wise counsel are surpassed only by her deep spirituality and cultural knowledge and connectedness. Soul Fire Farm, which she co-founded in 2010, is a monument to her leadership and ingenuity. Not only has she produced a regenerative food system that feeds many, but she also has taught thousands of others how to grow healthy foods and take positive steps to dismantle racism and build a healthier world for all of us. 

Seed Keeping and Preserving Culture Heritage was the focus of our final keynote speaker, Ira Wallace, a founding member of Acorn Community Farm and a force behind the farm’s Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. The cultivation and preservation of seeds and the identification and exploration of family heirloom seeds were concepts I was not familiar with, so this was a totally new avenue of knowledge for me. With the insidious machinations of corporate agribusiness in terms of seed ownership and patenting, the work  Sister Ira has spearheaded is essential and crucial for the wellbeing of the people of this land as well as for the planet.  

Acorn Farm and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange are cooperatively run and excellent examples of community-powered successful endeavors. The idea of farming communities and engaging people who may not have a  farming background to build community is exceptionally important in this age of land loss in both urban and rural settings for Black people.  

It is my hope that the Black Farming Conference will continue to grow and include more and more communities as we work together to create a truly just and equal world where every life is valued and everyone contributes. 

Cheryl Wood Smith is a poet, a member of the Agraria board of trustees, and on the organizing committee for the Black Farming  Conference.