Rhythms of the Land is a valentine to generations of Black farmers in the United States from the enslavement period to the present, whose intense love of the land and dedication to community enabled them to survive against overwhelming odds. They struggled from the beginning without support or recognition, and have been written out of the dominant narratives of US agriculture.
In 1920, there were over 920,000 Black families farming in the United States, although the majority were sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Today there are just over 48,697, a 95% decrease in 100 years. Black farming families have lost their land and their stories are quickly disappearing and should be preserved so that we may understand the history and nature of lives on the farms.
The goal of this documentary is to preserve their stories and honor their lives and agrarian legacies.
“Rhythms of The Land”
Directed by
Dr. Gail Myers
Screens @ 5:30 p.m. at The Grand Lake Theater with the feature doc : “We Have Just Begun”
run time: 61 min
Dr. Gail Myers is a cultural anthropologist, creator of the film project, Rhythms of the Land and Co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc. In 1997, while pursuing her doctorate at The Ohio State University, she conducted her first interviews with African American farmers.
Her passion for Black farmers developed as a result of hearing stories of their loss and struggles without recognition for their contributions. For the last 23 years she has been interviewing, researching, writing about, and filming the stories of African American farmers. Myers is considered an expert in the anthropology of African American farming.
Rhythms of the Land documentary fills the void of these missing agrarian narratives and honors these sharecroppers, farmers, and gardeners
Cultural Anthropologist | DrGailMyers.com
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Dr. Gail P MyersDirector
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Elaine SmithProducer
