structural:summarization, structural:expansion, linguistic:translation
Reconnecting Communities with the Soil

Many community organizations work to reconnect humans with the soil, bring people together based on a shared passion, and strengthen autonomy and power for individuals. For example, one community-based organization in Portland, Oregon, Black Futures Farm, strives to rebuild the relationship between humans and the soil. Community programs and outreach coordinator for Black Futures Farm, Nia Harris, describes the goal to be “to heal the connection between Black people and the land…We achieve this by cultivating a healthy place for the Black community to gather in joy…In a state where we’re so beaten down by so many factors that have to do with identity and politics and just pure hatred and greed, to have a space that’s literally a sanctuary for so many people — not just those of us who work here, but our community — that’s what makes it so special”. The farm has programming for people to engage in healing, meditative, and artistic wellness practices. All of the produce grown on the farm is distributed to Black individuals who do not have healthy food readily accessible to them. The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition which the Black Futures Farm is part of, has a similar mission to create events and spaces in which Black and brown communities are liberated through community-building practices and food sovereignty. According to the co-founders Malcolm Hoover and Mirabai Collins, farming is an act of resistance against the disconnection between Black people and the land.