Black agrarianism is a pedagogical thought, praxis, and social movement rooted in the principles and values of land, food, freedom, and sovereignty. African American farmers account for approximately 1% of American agriculture in the U.S. “Farming while Black” connotes the complicated relationship Black communities have with the land given the historical and current traumas associated with the land such as institutional and structural racism and land dispossession and displacement. Black agrarian pedagogies are the educational strategies employed to facilitate the cultural knowing and understanding of (re)connecting to soil, seeds and stories.
From a historical point of view, the study interrogates the historical record of Black agrarian pedagogies by asking: What are the historical pedagogies of Black agrarianism? Through a historiography of Black agrarian educational institutions, archival research and oral history interviews focused on Tuskegee University, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Fannie Lou Hamer’s Freedom Farm and the Free Southern Theater. From a present-day point of view, the study interrogates the current manifestation of Black agrarian pedagogies by asking: What are the contemporary pedagogies of Black agrarianism? Through a case study with D-Town Farm of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), I conducted semi-structured interviews with D-Town Farm volunteers and staff and participant observation of the farm educational events.
Results/Conclusions
Preliminary archival and qualitative research findings suggest overlaps between the historical and contemporary Black agrarian pedagogies. Relationship building, mothering (the process of feminine nurturing), memory, storytelling and cultural artistries like African dance and drumming, yoga and spoken word are all relevant pedagogical tools to facilitate cultural reclamation process of Black agrarianism. Another significant finding is the need to straddle formal (institutional classroom) and informal (community-centered) educational processes to facilitate the most effective teaching and learning in Black agrarian communities. These tools help to facilitate a re-entry or reclaiming of the land as a symbol and practice of cultural pride and resiliency. This is important as Black communities strive to find ways to reconnect with the agrarian roots that has heavily influenced Black culture, historically and presently. It is also remains significant based on how Black communities have used land-based resistance to combat the intersectional oppressions of being Black in America: racism, sexism, classism and so on. The pedagogies help us remember “there is no culture without agriculture.”