Date of Award

2020

Abstract

In this project I explore the role that I can play as a white farmer in disrupting systems of racism in the food system. After opening my eyes to recognize that the food system benefits white people over all others, I sought to understand how I could leverage the privilege and access afforded to me to disrupt this pattern. Through research and study, and a developing practice of conversations at the intersection of race and agriculture, I grew my understanding of structural racism and explored what it means to farm in a way that supports collective freedom. Seeing the ways my white identity shaped my worldview and the way I showed up in my life and work was central to this process. Through this project I began to unlearn the pieces of my white identity that do not serve collective freedom, and open to new ways of being and knowing. I learned the importance of embodying love and centering well-being in my leadership practice as I connect to the deep past of agriculture in this country, rooted in stolen land and stolen labor, and take responsibility for my role in the present to breathe life into a different future.

Program Director

Scott Nine, MSW.

Your non-Rubenstein School Graduate Faculty Committee Member

Matt Kolan, Ph.D.

Matt Kolan, Ph.D.

Sayra Pinto, Ph.D.

Document Type

Project

Download
COinS