The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will host a Black History Month screening and panel discussion of “Farming While Black.” The free event takes place Thursday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m. in the Student Services Center on campus.
The feature-length documentary sheds light on the plight of the nation’s Black farmers who at the height in 1910 owned 14% of U.S. farms compared to less than 2% today.
In the film, Black farmers Leah Penniman (pictured) of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, Blain Snipstal of Black Dirt Farm Collective in Maryland and New York City urban farmer Karen Washington, encourage the next generation to reconnect with their agricultural heritage and reclaim ancestral ownership to land.
Film director Mark Decena, a three-time Sundance Film Festival alumnus and founder of San Francisco-based Kontent Films, will be on-hand for the post-screening panel discussion, along with film subject Blain Snipstal and area farmers.
Free pre-registration is strongly encouraged.
This Black History Month event is sponsored by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, Extension and Department of English, Languages and Media Studies, along with the Campbell Foundation and Salisbury University.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu., 410-621-3850.
