Summary: Fannie Lou Hamer is increasingly recognized for her leadership with the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party, but did you know about the 600-acre Freedom Farm Cooperative she started? This is one of many examples of Black farmers organizing for power and self-determination highlighted in Monica White’s book “Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement.” This book expands our understanding of freedom struggles by focusing on the projects and tactics of Black farmers: from cooperatives and encampments, to unions and bail funds. Over and over, White documents the critical contributions farmers made both to literally feed the movement and also grow its liberation efforts. Vivi Moreno is the perfect guest to nerd out for an hour with about food, farming, and freedom. In this episode, she helps us understand and appreciate the long history of agricultural resistance, and also recognize and apply it to the ongoing struggles we still face today for healthy, sustainable, and self-determining communities. See Key questions discussed in this episode & Vivi Moreno's bio at thelitreview.org!
