Black farmers still struggle for justice

Save the Land: Black Farmers Benefit & Rally

Why a call for a benefit for and history of black farmers

In all the years of struggle to save black owned land and farmers, there has not been a real Revolving Loan Fund for black farmers since the crushing of the Land Assistance Fund in the 1970s fielded by the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and the Land Loss Fund established by the Concerned Citizens of Tillery in the 1980s.

This event will rejuvenate the Land Loss Fund as the CCT/BFAA Land Loss Fund, a national fund for assistance. Such a fund will be there for the hard and trying times to assist with:

Ø Retention: Help farmers get crops in fields on time, weather financial stress, and avoid tax delinquency.

Ø Acquisition: Purchase land that is threatened until the family can repurchase, provide small loans to assist new farmers who want to enter agriculture, and link sellers and buyers.

Ø Advocate: Work with other groups to advocate for black farmers and agricultural policies that benefit family farms and nutritional food.

Ø Educate: Continue education on the significance of black land and agriculture for the well being of all.

Black farmer facts:

Ø Between 1920 and 1992 the number of black farmers in the U.S. declined from 925,710 to 18,816 – or 98%

Ø In 1910, Africans owned 15.6 million acres of farm land

Ø In 1982, Africans owned 3.1 million acres of farm land.

Ø Between 1984 – 1985, the USDA lent over $1.3 billion to 16,000 farmers to buy land. Only 209 of those farmers were African

Ø In 1981, 48% of all black-operated farms were 50 acres or less

Ø In 1981, only 4% of black farmers were under the age of 35

Ø Overall, from 1920 through 1999, there has been a 98% decline in black farmers nation wide — from almost one million to just around 18,000

Ø In North Carolina, there has been a 70% loss of farms and a decline of 67% black land ownership, nearly 300,000 acres or $1.2 billion dollars of lost assets to the African community covering the years of the Pigford Class Action, 1981-1996.

Now is your time to help – Over the last fourteen years, many have called the BFAA office asking how for information as to how they might be able to help. Well, now is your time. We need:

Ø Performing artists who will donate their talent to this venture (limited to 22 acts on Saturday);

Ø Public relations people who know how to promote an event such as this and are able to donate their time;

Ø Socially responsible companies that support family farms to sponsor “The Tent,” “The Stage,” “The Sound System” and more;

Ø Those with technical skills for such an event to donate their time and become a part of the BFAA Planning Committee to help defray costs and relieve an already overworked too-small of a group;

Ø And finally, we need people to make a tax deductible donation to the CCT/BFAA Land Loss Fund.

And as you well know, there are many other ways to volunteer to assist with this event. Just contact the BFAA office at bfaausnow@aol.com or tillery@aol.com. Visit the BFAA web site, www.bfaa-us.org, for more information. WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU TO FULFILL YOUR OFFER TO HELP!!!

Contact: Gary R. Grant, President (252) 826-2800