Black Voices in Regenerative Fiber & Dye Systems – Southeastern New England Fibershed

I thought I knew a little about a lot of things and then I started focusing on farming and people of color and I realized I knew nothing. Please join me in learning more about racism’s connection to fiber, dye, and textile systems.

The Fibershed mothership recently sent out a great newsletter chock full of important links I am copy/pasting here. I hope you can watch, read and learn through these links to start thinking more about your farming region and it’s relationship to racism and how you can help foster new conversations.

-On June 12, Fibershed founder Rebecca Burgess joined a virtual panel discussion organized by Sustainable Brooklyn called “WTF is Going on with Agriculture?” Speakers included farmers, historians, and community organizers, and the recording of the panel is not to be missed. Click here to watch the video of the full panel.

-Land access is a challenge facing the next generation of farmers and ranchers, and Black farm ownership, in particular, has declined to just 2% in the United States. Kiley Clark is a farmer, food advocate, chef, writer, and photographer who has been studying organic and sustainable farming practices, including visiting and documenting many Northern California Fibershed producers in recent years. Learn more about Kiley’s fundraiser to build a Black-led, regenerative farm on the West Coast.

Fibershed writes: “The Root of Exploitation in American Land Use is a presentation by Dominique Drakeford to move toward ‘understanding the foundation of racism in America in order to create equitable and regenerative partnerships that give agency to Black and Brown Indigenous communities.’ Join us in watching the video recording to learn about the threads of exploitation of Black people in United States agriculture, with a specific look at cotton and indigo, and how Dominique is creating change through ‘what I call a top-down, bottom-up approach. I’m in communities working on programs getting folks to understand that they’ve inherently been sustainable, and that’s more challenging than you think when you’re part of a psychological system that tells you you’re not.”