Rhythms of the Land Documentary - Phase 3
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A Love Story of Land and Family
In 1920, there were 920,000 Black farmers in the United States, although many of those were sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Today there are roughly 33,570 black landowners. Black farming families have lost their land and their stories are quickly disappearing and should be preserved. The goal of this documentary is to preserve their stories and honor their lives and agrarian legacies.
ABOUT THE FILM
Rhythms of the Land is the documentary feature film project by anthropologist/filmmaker Gail P. Myers, Ph.D. During the summer of 2012. During the summer of 2012, Dr. Myers toured 10 southern states -- Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida -- interviewing over 30 farmers, sharecroppers, and gardeners and a 5th generation coil basket weaver. Several of these interviews are with elders, 98, 92, and 109. Suffice it to say, the wisdom and personalities of the elder farmers are infectious.
These interviews represent generations of cultural traditions of Black farming philosophy that honors land, sustainability, God, family and love for their community. This trailer spotlights a few of the more than 30 interviews weaving a compelling story of love for family, land, God, and community. Rhythms of the Land brings to life a love story seldom told.
AFRICA CAME TO AMERICA
Rhythms of the Land is a valentine to generations of Black farmers in the United States from the enslavement period to the present, whose intense love of the land and dedication to community enabled them to survive against overwhelming odds. They struggled from the beginning without support or recognition and have been written out of the dominant narratives of US agriculture.
These farmers and sharecroppers struggled without either reward or recognition and have been excluded out of dominant narratives of American agriculture.
People in the Film:
Icefene Thomas: Lived until the age of 113, born December 24, 1902, died January 6, 2016.
Aunt Rose: In 2016, Aunt Rose turned 104 years old. She is the daughter of a tenant farmer and maintained her own garden until she was 96 years old
Alvin Steppe: Played an integral part in Pigford v. Glickman, the lawsuit against loan discrimination against Black farmers.
Jery Taylor: Basket weaver that shows how rice plantations in South Carolina used basket weaving in the “fanner basket”.
Shirley Sherrod: Former Georgia State Director of Rural Development of the USDA
Deborah Williams: In 1996 Co-founded "The Mother Clyde Memorial West End Garden", the first Atlanta community garden
Vernon Preston: Pictured in the background is the cob oven he made by hand. He tells the story of how to prepare Poke salad, which he grows on his urban farm.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
I am Gail Myers, a cultural anthropologist and creator of the film project, Rhythms of the Land. In 1997, while pursuing my doctorate at The Ohio State University, I conducted my first interviews with African American farmers. My passion for Black farmers developed as a result of hearing stories of their loss and struggles without recognition for their contributions. For the last 23 years I have been interviewing, researching, writing about, and filming the stories of African American farmers. Rhythms of the Land documentary fills the void of these missing agrarian narratives and honors these sharecroppers, farmers, and gardeners.
Gail P. Myers, Ph.D.,
Cultural Anthropologist
Interviews with Dr. Myers
Importance of Project
The history of systemic social and racial injustice in the government's discriminatory lending patterns has been prevalent in the agricultural industry and a thorn in the Black farmers' side for more than a century.
For decades working as tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and some full farm owners, Black farmers have struggled for loan equity, access to resources, and the inability to compete in modern agriculture. Yet, they keep farming because they love the land and food traditions.
Despite the middle passage, chattel slavery, discrimination, and elimination from the American agricultural narrative; Black farmers continued to farm and raise livestock in a way that honors land regeneration, the health of the environment, and the people living in and around the community.
Rhythms of the Land will reveal these complex relationships Black farmers have had and the communities that have endured for generations. Hearing their stories will honor these US farmers, sharecroppers, and gardeners and spotlight the connections between biological and cultural diversity connecting us to our roots.
Production Team:
Every step of the way as a need presented itself magically someone would show up to be a part of the team with the perfect skill set to accomplish the goal. The team continues to lift the project in solidarity to assist in bringing these important stories to a broad audience to inspire and educate for generations to come.
Dr. Gail P. Myers - Director
Elaine Smith - Producer
Genisia Green - Trailor Editing
Michelle Novak- Bookkeeping, Financial advisor
Maggie Liu – Digital Marketing/Archival Research
Courtney Peal – Digital Marketing/Archival Research
Shannon Joy Shird - Screening/Distribution
Jemila Sequeira - Co-Producer
Leah Ryan - Graphic Designer/Illustrator
Lake Raymond - Graphic Art
Nab Chitwant - Web Designer
Kimberly Nicholson - Fundraising
Shaun Ross - Outreach/Distribution
Special Thanks to: Alia Davis, Haley Braveheart, Sara Englehardt and Steffany Dignum.
Original Music: Eric Lewis
“Eric Lewis aka ELEW” was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1973; his early exposure to pianos and piano teachers started his journey of expressing through music. He studied piano at the Settlement Music
School in Queen Village, near his home. In the mid- to late 90s he attracted some attention when he played with artists such as Betty Carter, Elvin Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry (appearing as one of the pianists on the trumpeter’s set of duos, One on One), and Cassandra Wilson (Traveling Miles), but it was his success in winning the 1999 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition that substantially raised his profile. Among other artists with whom Lewis has recorded are alto saxophonist Craig Bailey, Robin Eubanks, and Wynton Marsalis.
Phase Three Funding Needs: $50,000
We like to give a special thanks to supporters in Phase I & II of our fundrasing efforts. We received a huge jump start of $40,000, the team raised another $16, 000 on Go Fund Me for editing, additional b roll and archival research. As a team we've have seen the directors draft, this documentary is going to be amazing. So far we have been able to keep the project going on an amazingly small budget and a lot of volunteer hours. Now, we need your suppport in our next round to officially send our story into the world.
Composer & Music Score
Insurance
Rollout & Screenings
Advertising & Marketing
Festival Submissions
Photo and video licensing, royalties and archival footage
Travel accommodations during rollout and screenings
Legal Fees
CONTACT INFORMATION
Farms to Grow, Inc
P.O. Box 10504
Oakland, CA 94610
Organizer
Ebony Farmer
Organizer
Oakland, CA
