Thursday, February 3, 2011

Update: Harry Young, one of our interviewees passed away this week.

 Harry Young, one of the farmers interviewed for this project, passed away this week in Kentucky.  Our previous write-up of the interview is here.

Harry was a fascinating fellow, 83 years old, with a unique situation.  He has been fighting to get his land and honor back after he was forced off of his lifelong farm and it was auctioned off.  Much of our discussion was about the hardship of being a small farmer, his frustration that this could happen over what he says is a financial misunderstanding, and about the racism that he felt in the area.

An author and friend of his, Monica Davis, provided the following readings associated with his life and struggles.  It's worth a read, especially for people such as myself who were raised in a very different region:

 82-year-old Black farmer arrested, charged with making terrorist threats, May 17, 2009.

Black farmer files lawsuit to regain farm with $750000000 in coal deposits.

Land, Legacy and Lynching: Building the Future in Black America, a book by Monica Davis.

And, a summary of our visit with Harry for the Stewards Project. 

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