We are each other's harvest :

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Title :

We are each other's harvest : celebrating African American farmers, land, and legacy / Natalie Baszile.

Title:

We are each other's harvest :

Varying Form of Title:

African American farmers

Author:

Baszile, Natalie

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

xiii, 351 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780062932563

Production / Publication Information:

New York, NY : Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]

Summary:

"In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people's connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers' personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The Returning Generation--young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations."--

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references.

Language:

English

Subject Term:

African American farmers.

African Americans -- Agriculture.

Agriculture -- United States -- History.

African Americans -- Biography.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	630.8996 BASZILE	31478010170661	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	630.8996 BAS	32114002627256	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	630.9 BAS	31330009013339	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	630.8996/BASZ 2021	33934004459062	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	630.89/BAS	31482002982687	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	630.8996/BASZILE N	31479007451098	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	630.8996 BASZILE	32122002839920	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lawrence Public Library	630.89 BAS	31549004855358	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	630.8996 BAS 2021	32124001970250	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	HISTORY / US / BLACK HISTORY / BAS	32132003266924	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	630.89 BASZILE	32133002556422	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	630.8996 BAS	31990005043539	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A WALL STREET JOURNAL FAVORITE FOOD BOOK OF THE EAR

From the author of Queen Sugar--now a critically acclaimed series on OWN directed by Ava Duvernay--comes a beautiful exploration and celebration of black farming in America.

In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people's connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers' personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The "Returning Generation"--young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations.

These farmers are joined by other influential voices, including noted historians Analena Hope Hassberg and Pete Daniel, and award-winning author Clyde W. Ford, who considers the arrival of Africans to American shores; and James Beard Award-winning writers and Michael Twitty, reflects on black culinary tradition and its African roots. Poetry and inspirational quotes are woven into these diverse narratives, adding richness and texture, as well as stunning four-color photographs from photographers Alison Gootee and Malcom Williams, and Baszile's personal collection.

As Baszile reveals, black farming informs crucial aspects of American culture--the family, the way our national identity is bound up with the land, the pull of memory, the healing power of food, and race relations. She reminds us that the land, well-earned and fiercely protected, transcends history and signifies a home that can be tended, tilled, and passed to succeeding generations with pride. We Are Each Other's Harvest elevates the voices and stories of black farmers and people of color, celebrating their perseverance and resilience, while spotlighting the challenges they continue to face. Luminous and eye-opening, this eclectic collection helps people and communities of color today reimagine what it means to be dedicated to the soil.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Novelist Baszile (Queen Sugar) explores the legacy of "Black and brown farmers" in this winning anthology of essays, poems, photographs, and interviews. Analena Hope Hassberg, a professor of ethnic studies at Cal Poly Pomona, examines farming as a "revolutionary act," noting that enslaved Africans kept small garden plots on U.S. plantations and "often had higher vitamin, mineral, and protein levels than poor whites who also struggled to survive in the face of starvation." Clif Sutton and his father, Dexter Faison, owners of Straw Hat Farms in Turkey, N.C., discuss their family's farming legacy and the advantages of passing land from one generation to the next, as opposed to starting from scratch. Novelist and memoirist Clyde Ford details how discrimination against Black landowners by elected farm service committees in the South helped to fuel the civil rights movement, while Jim Embry, founder of Sustainable Communities Network, looks at how Indigenous agricultural traditions and communal structures can help fight climate change and racial inequality. Throughout, poems by Kevin Young, Joy Harjo, and others resonant with the themes discussed. With its attractive presentation and incisive blend of academic, creative, and real-world perspectives, this inspirational survey is a fitting tribute to Black farmers throughout history. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management. (Apr.)

Booklist Review

Connection to the land has been and is a foundational way that we humans relate to the world around us. In the U.S., this relationship, like all American history, is fraught and complicated, mostly due to colonization, enslavement, and a multitude of other injustices perpetrated by white settlers. Baszile (Queen Sugar, 2014) has curated this anthology of essays, photographs, conversations, poetry, and more to explore Black farmers' connections to the land in the U.S., from Emancipation to the present day. Contributors include farmers, historians, writers, and photographers, who bring a variety of perspectives on identity and the way it is interconnected with the land and history. With stunning color portraits and quotes from iconic writers, leaders, and others interspersed throughout, this well-researched collection is readable (while it requires sitting with some hard truths), informative, and inspiring. Black farming and farmers play a much more significant role in American culture than is typically represented, and this collection brings that information beautifully to the fore, as well as inviting readers to interrogate their own connections to the land and this history.

Library Journal Review

Proving that Black people have always had a deep connection to the land, writer Baszile (Queen Sugar) elevates the voices of Black farmers and ongoing conversations surrounding food justice, land stewardship, and intergenerational wealth. Through powerful firsthand interviews with Black and Mexican farmers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Louisiana, California, and more, Baszile shows how, for many, farming means freedom. Baszile's compelling narrative excels in telling how growing one's own food has long been critical to Black people's survival, from slavery to the present day. The author also details the increasing number of women farmers, and how Black women are navigating both racism and sexism. Interwoven are contributions from historian Michael W. Twitty and poet Kevin Young, among others. Perhaps the strongest parts of the book are contributions from historian Pete Daniel, on the difficulty of Black farmers to receive assistance from the USDA and the FSA, and author Clyde Ford, on the connection between land and wealth. As Ford writes, "Black landownership has always been an act of defiance and an affirmation of humanity." Vivid photographs by Baszile are a highlight throughout. VERDICT This noteworthy book, the first of its kind, brings an untold history to the forefront and succeeds in showing how land and legacy are interconnected.--Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Natalie BaszileDr. Analena Hope Hassberg

Foreword	p. 1
Introduction	p. 7
1 Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden	p. 13
2 Everyone Beneath Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: A Remembering in Seven Parts by Michael Twitty	p. 15
3 Handed the Rain by Ed Roberson	p. 21
4 Writing Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile	p. 25
5 Excerpt from Black and White: The Way I See It by Richard Williams	p. 37
6 Resilience and Reinvention with Stanley Hughes and Linda Leach	p. 43
7 Little Farm, Big Dreams with Kamal Bell	p. 55
8 Black to the Land by Leah Penniman	p. 61
9 Cutting greens by Lucille Clifton	p. 67
10 The Last Plantation: The USDA's Racist Operating System by Pete Daniel	p. 69
11 Father and Daughter with Harper and Ashley Armstrong	p. 91
12 To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian by Ross Gay	p. 99
13 On Top of Moon Mountain with Brenae Royal	p. 105
14 Money Talk with Clif Sutton and Dexter Faison	p. 115
15 Barking by Lenard D. Moore	p. 123
16 Dispossessed: Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It by Lizzie Presser	p. 125
17 Louisiana Daughters: A Conversation with Lalita Tademy and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton	p. 147
18 Queen Sugar, Chapter 10 by Natalie Baszile	p. 161
19 Frame by Robin Coste Lewis	p. 167
20 America at the Crossroads: A History of Enslavement and Land by Clyde Ford	p. 171
21 Field Day at the Hill Place with Odis Hill	p. 185
22 Equal Ground with Willie Earl Nelson Sr. and Sons	p. 193
23 Fearless by Tim Seibles	p. 205
24 Four Days in Alaskan Farm School with Melony Edwards	p. 209
25 No Better Life with the Blueforts	p. 217
26 Ancestral Vibrations Guide Our Connection to the Land by Jim Embry	p. 227
27 Remember by Joy Harjo	p. 239
28 Family Ties with Esmeralda and Antonio Sandoval	p. 243
29 How to Make Rain by Kevin Young	p. 251
30 Miss Rose's Dirty Rice by Natalie Baszile	p. 253
31 A New Country with Dorcas Young	p. 257
32 Raised and Rooted with Deric Harper	p. 263
33 Making Space with Moretta Browne	p. 271
34 Call Me by My Name by Harryette Mullen	p. 275
35 Wheel of Fortune with Martha Calderon	p. 277
36 Exceeding the "Yes" with Marvin Frink	p. 283
37 Swarm by Tonya Foster	p. 291
38 A Brief History of Tobacco by Natalie Baszile	p. 293
39 After Tobacco with the Wrights	p. 297
40 Yellowjackets by Yusef Komunyakaa	p. 301
41 Home Games with Kellye Walker and Werten Bellamy	p. 303
42 Butter by Elizabeth Alexander	p. 311
43 A Love Letter to Future Generations by Naima Penniman	p. 313
44 Inside Queen Sugar: Jason Wilborn Reflects on His Years in the Queen Sugar Writers' Room by Natalie Baszile	p. 319
45 The Boudin Trail by Natalie Baszile	p. 327
Black Harvest Fund	p. 335
Acknowledgments	p. 337
Notes	p. 339
Credits	p. 345
Contributors	p. 347
Photographs	p. 349

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents