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Abstract

First of all, let me say to my brother Dr. Hill, you are my keeper. That is something that he and I have in common (Am I my brother’s keeper?) and let me also acknowledge Tuskegee University for all that it does, for all that it has done, and for all that it will continue to do for people like us. Well, I bought a farm down in Macon County, GA, and it is a small farm, as a matter of fact where is Dr. Tasha Hargrove? Tasha and one other person, Dr. Zabawa did a study several years ago about the farm.

In the early iterations of the Farm Service agency (FSA) in Georgia, the USDA did something right. It put up enough money to begin to stem the tide of sharecrop farming. It sought to purchase 100 farms in the state of Georgia, place Black farmers on those farms and moved them from subsistence to wholesome farming. The original project was scheduled to go to Peach County, Georgia, but the local power structure raised so much hell that the Secretary had to withdraw. They moved it to Macon County, Georgia and they bought those 100 farms and placed 100 Black farmers and their families on those farms. The reason why I mentioned Dr. Hargrove and her colleague Dr. Zabawa is that they did a study three, four, or five, years ago and they looked at those original 100 farms and you know what? As of two years ago over 60% of them were still in Black farmers’ hands. The good part about that for me is that I now own one of them. I know the original farm family, and I have the original deed. Now it might not be as productive as it used to be when other people had it because I am a hobby farmer.

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