Category: Racial Healing

Conversations in 2020 – Session 3

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events, Racial Healing

[Click here to learn about the first session held on July 14, 2020, and click here to learn about the second session held on July 21, 2020.]

On Tuesday, July 28, we hosted our third and final session of Conversations on Race & Racism in 2020. Once again, we had nearly 50 people in attendance and a video recording of that session is embedded below.

This week, we were joined by a special guest, Danielle Ohlson of Newark Central Schools. Danielle is also a trainer with Wayne Action for Racial Equality. For further inquiry and action opportunities, several resources were offered at the close of Tuesday’s presentation. Those resources are included below.

In 2020, Conversations on Race & Racism are sponsored by 13 libraries in the Pioneer Library Systems. A list of the sponsoring libraries are below.

For those of you who were unable to attend last Tuesday’s program, here it is on YouTube:

Here are the resources for inquiry and action:

Here is a list of the libraries that sponsored this event:

  • Naples Library
  • Newark Public Library
  • Wadsworth Library
  • Marion Public Library
  • Palmyra Community Library
  • Lyons Public Library
  • Geneva Public Library
  • Livonia Public Library
  • Victor Farmington Library
  • Sodus Community Library
  • Clyde-Savannah Public Library
  • Gorham Free Library
  • Macedon Public Library

Conversations in 2020 – Session 2

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events, Food Justice, Racial Healing

[Click here to learn about the first session held on July 14, 2020, and click here to learn about the third and final session held on July 28, 2020.]

On Tuesday, July 21, we hosted the second 2020 session of Conversations on Race & Racism with over fifty people in attendance. A video recording of the second session is embedded below.

Two special guests were invited: Alison Espinoza of Rootworker’s Croft in West Bloomfield NY; and Jessica Gilbert from Rushville NY, who is also a PhD Candidate at the SUNY University at Buffalo and a food justice activist.

In 2020, Conversations on Race & Racism are sponsored by 13 libraries in the Pioneer Library Systems. A list of the sponsoring libraries are below.

For further inquiry, participants are encouraged to view a presentation by Chris Bolden-Newsome, an urban farmer and youth educator from Sankofa Community Farm, which is a part of Bartram’s Gardens in Philadelphia, PA.  A link to the presentation and some questions to ponder are below.

For those of you who were unable to attend last Tuesday’s program, here it is on YouTube:

The link to the homework presentation is here: “Chris Bolden-Newsome” and here are some questions to consider while viewing or afterwards:

  • How has your personal discomfort or hopelessness regarding the suffering of others led to apathy in your life?  In what ways do you tune out to the suffering of others?  In what ways might you tune in more to the suffering of others in a way that is productive and leads to action?
  • What might be some opportunities that can emerge from this current racial and social crisis that we are in?
  • What might it look like to willingly and intentionally engage in suffering or struggle together with those that are different then ourselves?

Here is a list of the libraries that sponsored this event:

  • Naples Library
  • Newark Public Library
  • Wadsworth Library
  • Marion Public Library
  • Palmyra Community Library
  • Lyons Public Library
  • Geneva Public Library
  • Livonia Public Library
  • Victor Farmington Library
  • Sodus Community Library
  • Clyde-Savannah Public Library
  • Gorham Free Library
  • Macedon Public Library

Freedom Gardens Thank You

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events, Food Justice, Freedom Gardens, Racial Healing

An open letter to the Buffalo BIPOC community,

All around the country community responses to the COVID-19 virus have been varied, most have been uplifting and inspiring and a few divisive and disturbing.  The virus has manifested in Buffalo like it has in other places, spreading in Black populations disproportionally thereby resulting in more cases and deaths. It has exposed and exploited the systematic conditions that arise when poverty and race are neglected and ignored. Our response to this crisis has been to target the underlaying causes that perpetuate the health disparities in our communities…the lack of healthy fresh nutritious food. Our health will improve when we have neighborhoods that prioritize health and wellbeing.   

This letter is a thank you to everyone who contributed to our marketing success and provided funding for Freedom Gardens.  For over a century Buffalo has been the epicenter of Black freedom movements created in response to challenging moments in history. An expansive coalition of community-based organizations announced the Buffalo Freedom Garden initiative to bring organic gardens that inspire resilience, independence and community building to residents in the zip code areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 virus. Our print campaign was launched last week with an ad and article in The Challenger News. The message that Freedom Gardens was our response to the COVID crisis was carried by influencers on social media, radio programs on POWER 96.5, and undergirded by a direct marketing campaign fueled by the power and influence of community-based organizations! Once the community began to take notice in less than five days over 334 households applied for 50 gardens!  I would like to thank all the families and individuals that filled out an application. Your outpouring of support is being used to expand the number of gardens we can establish in an attempt to meet the increased demand.   

Black owned media outlets, Citigroup, WNY COVID-19 Community Response Fund, Juneteenth Festival Agricultural Pavilion Committee, Food for the Spirit, Grassroots Gardens, Access To A-Free-Ka and others played a critical role in organizing, promoting, funding and providing leadership for this initiative.  Please join me in acknowledging our sponsors and supporters. Our best moments come when we unite as a community to do the work of the people! Together we rise! 

Sincerely,

Gail V Wells & Rebekah Williams

Freedom Gardens

Buffalo Freedom Gardens

by Food for the Spirit, posted in Events, Food Justice, Freedom Gardens, Gardening Days, Racial Healing

This article was prepared by Gail Wells for The Challenger News, May 2020.

pictured: Gail Wells, of CopperTown Block Club, surveys raised bed containers for planting being readied for distribution to community households

An expansive coalition of community-based organizations, spearheaded by Seeding Resilience, have come together to address food apartheid in areas hardest hit by the COVD-19 virus with an initiative designed to inspire resilience and independence for Buffalo residents.

Freedom Gardens is a groundbreaking approach to strengthening community, building self-reliance, and increasing food security that is supported by Food for the Spirit / Buffalo Food Equity Network, Grassroots Gardens WNY, CopperTown Block Club, Access To A-Free-Ka, the Juneteenth Agricultural Pavilion Committee, and the Juneteenth Festival of Buffalo.

Through Freedom Gardens, 50 households in Buffalo will be supported in starting backyard or front-yard, raised-bed or container gardens at their own homes at no-cost. Freedom Gardens will equip all aspiring home gardeners with tools, resources, and knowledge that will enable them to grow organic food to help feed their families. Residents living in the following zip codes are eligible to apply for free supplies and material: 14215, 14213, 14211, 14209, 14208, 14207, 14204.

All interested should complete the online form at bit.ly/freedomgardens by Monday, May 11, 2020 by 5:00 PM.

The value of having a Freedom Garden is the emphasis it places on wellness, healthy eating and growing your own organic food. Freedom Gardeners will have access to an educational program designed by Soul Fire Farms, operated by Co-Director Leah Penniman, author of Farming While Black.

The educational program will provide the gardening and farming expertise of Black growers, including gardening and nutrition expertise, information about growing culturally relevant food and herbs, and resources for self-care and COVID safety protocols. Freedom Gardeners will receive heirloom organic non-GMO seeds and seedlings that will provide fresh vegetables and herbs throughout the growing season.

Freedom Gardens is supported by Citigroup and WNY COVID-19 Community Response Fund, local philanthropic organizations collaborating to address the most critical needs in our community.

For additional details visit: bit.ly/freedomgardens