So Fresh and So Green

My grandfather used to say ‘the land don’t know no color, the land never mistreated anybody. It’s the people here.” ~Dr. John Boyd

There are several notable things about the Shirley Sherrod incident worth acknowledging, most involve how much this incident is not about the woman in question. The African American Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture was forced to resign of from her position after conservative activist and blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a highly edited video of Sherrod’s address at a March 2010 NAACP event to his website that made her look like she engaged in discriminatory practices towards whites.

The modern day electronic lynching highlighted the fact that the right wing is capable of distorting slivers of information to work into their overarching frame that The administration of our Black president will inevitably involve some type of slavery for white folks and the destruction of this country.

Photo Credit: USDA, Shirley Sherrod

We also learned in the past few days that the Obama administration needs to have a “war on terror” against right wing/conservative media over-hype and issues of race. Sadly it seems a fear of race will undo the administration of the first Black president.

The absolute ineptitude of NAACP head Ben Jealous and his “snookered” and woefully irrelevant organization that had the full video of Sherrod’s speech the whole time was also on display.

Black men hanging Black women out to dry was also in full effect and the taboo issues of class with the commonalities between whites and blacks in that regard.

In the backdrop is also the plight of the Black farmer and the history of the United States Department of Agriculture’s systematic racism, so apparent and documented the government admitted to it in a $1.5 Billion settlement for those effected.

Rightfully, President Obama proposed the compensation claims but congress never allocated the money to the claimants. Day by day these Black farmers are dying having never seen justice because many are elderly by now which I wrote about in more detail HERE.

John Boyd, Jr. is the head of the National Black Farmers Association as well as a third generation farmer quoted above and featured in the CNN video below.

In the meantime Dr. John Boyd is requesting your support because the senate hasn’t done anything yet while proclaiming their support for the cause. Thursday, the Senate dropped $1.2 billion for the claims from an emergency spending bill.

The Senate may be considering whether to approve funding for the black farmers settlement this week.

We need your help now. Please contact your Senator today and tell them to keep funding for the black farmers settlement in the war supplemental bill.

Senate Switchboard
(202) 224-3121

blackfarmers.org/about