Happy Earth Day Interdependent Beings!
We know our lives are braided together, and all of us are in relationship. We belong to each other. In this Springtime of renewal, may we renew our commitment to seeing and protecting each other.
The police killings of 16 year old Ma’khia Bryant on the day of the guilty verdict of the officer who extinguished the life of George Floyd, and of 20 year old Daunte Wright ten miles from the trial are a sobering reminder of the work left to be done to value the sanctity of Black lives. We know the whole police system is guilty and rooted in racial violence.
The intensifying wave of violence harming our beloved Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities is symptomatic of a long and horrific history of exclusion, invisibilization, scapegoating, xenophobia, and Orientalism that has been intricately stitched into the fabric of the United States that needs immediate interruption.
Our nation has declared its so-called border closed and is turning away asylum seekers, separating families, and holding 15,000 unaccompanied migrant children in overcrowded detention centers. And there is so much more in need of mentioning, mourning, and mobilization.
Revered ancestor Grace Lee Boggs reminds us, “Every crisis needs to be viewed as an opportunity to bring about profound changes in our society.”
Let us step boldly into this opportunity. Join us in calling for due process for deportations and repair of the asylum seeking system (here and here), standing with Asian-American community organizing (here and here), and redefining public safety and accountability by supporting the Breathe Act (here).
Keep reading for our April updates, how our team at Soul Fire is collaborating with the land and our communities to uproot racism and regenerate our collective soils for the harvest of justice.
In Love & Solidarity,
Cheryl, Kiani, Azure’, Brooke, Dayo, Leah, Larisa, Naima, Ife and Jonah
Announcing the birth of the Braiding Seeds Fellowship!
Honor and respect to our ancestral grandmothers who braided seeds and promise into their hair before being forced onto transatlantic slave ships. They believed, against odds, that we their descendents would exist to inherit, plant, and pass on that seed.
In collaboration with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Soul Fire Farm is thrilled to announce the launch of the historic Braiding Seeds Fellowship. Carrying on the legacy of the braided seeds, this 18-month fellowship provides beginning farmers with a stipend, professional development, and mentorship to support their livelihood on land and their future as the next generation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color farmers passionate about the flourishing of Black agrarianism. In its inaugural year, this pilot program will form a cohort from the Southeast and Northeast, along certain corridors of the Underground Railroad and the Great Migration.
Learn more, apply, and register for the April 29 informational webinar HERE.
Staff Highlights
Brooke Bridges – Food Justice Coordinator
“This month we hosted our first Work + Learn Days of the season. It was so heartwarming to be around people on the land again, to share in the beauty of land stewardship, and engage in community.”
Cheryl Wilby – Communications Director
“On April 19th, I spoke to Union College sustainable living students about food justice and creating a sustainable food system.”