Black Belt Justice Center

THIS ORGANIZATION EDUCATES, EMPOWERS, AND ASSISTS BLACK FARMERS TO OBTAIN RESOURCES TO MAINTAIN SUSTAINABILITY.

THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN IS AN EXAMPLE OF OUR MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO PRESERVING AND RESTORING THE BLACK AGRICULTURAL LAND BASE AND LAND-BASED LIVELIHOODS. THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN IS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING, POPULAR EDUCATION, AND LEGAL ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN TO RECTIFY THE INJUSTICE(S) OF THE PIGFORD V. GLICKMAN CLASS ACTION RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT. SEVERAL OF AAI/BAF'S POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS (I.E., A FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM, DEBT CANCELLATION, DIRECT PAYMENTS FOR PAST/ONGOING USDA DISCRIMINATION, AND A PERPETUAL ALLOCATION IN THE $30B COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FUND) HAVE INFORMED PRESIDENT BIDEN'S 100-DAY ACTION PLAN, THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT, AND THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED PARTNERSHIPS FOR CLIMATE-SMART COMMODITIES PROGRAM. THE ACRES OF ANCESTRY INITIATIVE/BLACK AGRARIAN FUND (AAI/BAF)(A PROJECT OF THE BLACK BELT JUSTICE CENTER) IN COLLABORATION WITH OUR SISTER COLLECTIVE, RETURN OF THE BEES QUILT COLLECTIVE (RBQC), DEBUTED OUR PERMANENT FIBER ARTS AND AGRARIAN MATERIAL CULTURE COLLECTION AT THE CHARLESTON CITY GALLERY AT WATERFRONT PARK JANUARY 17TH 2022 THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH, 2022. FEATURING OVER 100 PIECES OF ARTWORK COMMISSIONED BY BLACK FIBER ARTISTS IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY, THE BLACK BELT SOUTH, AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AT LARGE, THIS VAST ARRAY OF TEXTILE ART PORTRAYS THE POWER OF THE BLACK IMAGINATION TO EXTEND BEYOND COLONIAL FRAMEWORKS, CENTERING NARRATIVES OF SELF-SUSTAINED LAND OWNERSHIP, AND SPIRIT-CULTURAL RECLAMATION. THIS TRAVELING EXHIBITION, GRIOTS OF COTTON, INDIGO, & CLAY EXPLORES THE INNOVATIONS OF ECOCULTURAL TECHNIQUES IN APPLIQUÉ, BASKET WEAVING, COLLAGE, INDIGO, AND PAINTING, CELEBRATING AN ECOSYSTEM OF OVER 50 MASTER FIBER ARTISTS, CERAMICISTS, SWEETGRASS BASKETWEAVERS, AND BLACKSMITHS-MANY OF THEM MEMBERS OF THE RETURN OF THE BEES QUILT COLLECTIVE (RBQC). THE RBQC PROVIDES SUPPORT TO HERITAGE QUILTERS, FIBER ARTISTS, AND QUILTING BEES INTERESTED IN EXHIBITING THEIR ARTWORKS IN ALTERNATIVE SPACES TO PREVAILING COLONIAL CONSTRUCTS AND ARRANGEMENTS. ESTABLISHED AN ONLINE GALLERY OF OUR PERMANENT FIBER ART AND AGRARIAN MATERIAL CULTURE COLLECTION TO AMPLIFY THE ARTWORKS OF THE FIBER ARTISTS, HERITAGE QUILTERS, AND EARTH-BASED CRAFTSPEOPLE IN OUR ECOSYSTEM. BUILDING ON THE MOMENTUM OF OUR COMMUNITY EDUCATION SERIES AND ARCHIVES, AAI/BAF CONTINUES TO DEVELOP COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND RESEARCH MATERIALS THAT REVEAL THE HISTORIC INEQUITIES OF DEBT OFFSETS, THE COUNTY COMMITTEE SYSTEM, AND THE COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FUND TO ADVANCE RESTORATIVE LAND JUSTICE FOR THE BLACK AGRARIAN COMMUNITY. IN SPRING 2020, AAI/BAF COLLABORATED WITH THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY HIP HOP GROUP NATIVE SON TO CREATE THE ANTHEM FOR OUR CAMPAIGN, THE LAND. AAI/BAF ALSO WORKED WITH MUSICIANS CHRISTIAN SCOTT, THREE GENERATIONZ, AND BELLA BAHHS TO STEEP OUR CAMPAIGN IN THE BLACK RADICAL TRADITION OF WEAVING PROTEST SONG INTO ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS (I.E., SNCC FREEDOM SINGERS). OUR WORK CONTINUED TO GROW WITH NATIVE SON WITH THE DEBUT OF RESTORATION: A CONCERT FILM. THE FILM EXPLORES SOUTHERN BLACK AGRARIAN STORIES OF SELF-DETERMINATION, CUSTODIAL LAND OWNERSHIP, AND FOLKWIT; AMPLIFIES ONGOING STRUGGLES FOR RESTORATIVE LAND JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY INCLUDING THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN; AND WEAVES TOGETHER LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES FROM NATIVE SON AND THE PERSONAL NARRATIVES OF BLACK LEGACY FARMERS AND LAND STEWARDS. AFTER AN ABUNDANT YEAR OF COMMUNITY PRAISE AND NOTABLE ACCOLADES FROM FILM FESTIVALS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND INTERNATIONALLY (I.E., PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, WORLDFEST-HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SEATTLE BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, REEL SISTERS OF THE DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL & LECTURE SERIES, GREENWOOD FILM FESTIVAL, BRONZELENS FILM FESTIVAL, SEATTLE BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, BALTIMORE INTERNATIONAL BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, NICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, ETC.), RESTORATION: A CONCERT FILM IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING THROUGH KWELITV, A BLACK-OWNED VIDEO STREAMING PLATFORM DEDICATED TO PROMOTING AFRICAN/AFRICAN DIASPORIC MEDIA CONTENT.

CONTINUED TO AMPLIFY THE AIMS OF THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN. THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN IS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING, POPULAR EDUCATION, AND LEGAL ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN TO RECTIFY THE INJUSTICES OF THE PIGFORD V. GLICKMAN (PIGFORD I) CLASS ACTION RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT. INSPIRED BY DAVID WALKER'S IMPASSIONED ENTREATY AGAINST THE CHATTEL ENSLAVEMENT OF AFRICANS IN THE UNITED STATES, THE BLACK FARMERS' APPEAL: CANCEL PIGFORD DEBT CAMPAIGN IS A POLEMIC AGAINST YET ANOTHER FORM OF RACIALIZED CAPITALISM-UNCONSCIONABLE DEBT. OUR COLLECTIVE IS COMPRISED OF A MULTIGENERATIONAL TRIBE OF FARMERS, ATTORNEYS, WRITERS, HERITAGE QUILTERS, ARTISTS, AND MUSICIANS USING OUR DIVERSE TALENTS TO DISMANTLE INSTITUTIONAL RACIAL DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA) WITH THE FOLLOWING DEMANDS: CANCELLATION OF ALL USDA DEBTS, FULL FEDERAL AND STATE TAX RELIEF, RETURN OF OFFSETS, ACCESS TO LAND, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A $2.5 BILLION RESTORATIVE JUSTICE FUND TO REGENERATE THE BLACK AGRICULTURAL LAND BASE. WE EXPLORE INNOVATIVE COLLABORATIONS THAT DEEPEN THE LINKAGES OF MUSIC, ECOCULTURAL TRADITIONS, AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMY TO PROTECT BLACK LANDOWNERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP, WHILE RAISING COMMUNITY AWARENESS, COLLECTIVISM, AND ACTION.

LAUNCHED THE RETURN OF THE BEES MULTIMEDIA PROJECT TRAVERSES THE HISTORY, EVOLUTION, AND FUTURISM OF SOUTHERN BLACK AGRARIAN MATERIAL CULTURE, INCLUDING FIBER ARTS AND HERITAGE QUILTMAKING, WHILE REVERING THE CULTURE BEARERS WHO CARRY THESE TRADITIONS THROUGH DOCUMENTATION AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMY. DEEPLY INSPIRED BY THE FREEDOM QUILTING BEE PARADIGM-COOPERATIVE, COMMUNITY-CENTERED, AND SELF-DETERMINED, OUR MULTIMEDIA PROJECT LAUNCHED ALONG A RED CLAY DIRT ROAD IN ALBERTA, ALABAMA.