Black Farmer Panel held at UMES for Black History Month

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore celebrated African American farmers today with a panel in observance of Black History Month. The significance isn’t just about the local community, but also the entire shore.

Taieshia Hyacinth is a local farmer in Dover, she said the panel gave her the ability to share her and all her peers’ stories. “It’s important for us to tell our stories as farmers, because we don’t want anyone to own our narrative.”

Black farmers who have made a difference in the community. For Hyacinth, she explains what a black farmer means to her.

“The black farmer is someone that is powerful, moving, someone that is not stagnant, and someone that is moving something is fluid. Everything encompasses who we are, the nature, our growth, and who we are.”

The school had a screening of “Farming While Black,” a documentary that sheds light on Black farmers, who, at the height in 1910, owned 14% of U.S. farms, compared to less than 2% today.

Film director Mark Decena explains how he found inspiration to make the movie.

“I was at a farming conference and sat down next to a black farmer, and he asked what I did. Well, I’m a filmmaker, and he asked what’s your film? And I said, ‘Farming While Black’ and he said you’re not black. And my response was I’m also not a farmer, I’m a storyteller and filmmaker.”

Hyacinth says events like these plant seeds of power and progress.”Farmers is resistance, planting a seed is resistance, planting a seed of inspiration is resistance. Black farmers are the backbone of not just our diaspora, but for all diasporas.”