Greene County Democrat

Tag: Executive Director

  • Federation holds 58th Annual Meeting

    Phylicia Rashard receives award at the Federation meeting and Cornelius Blanding addresses membership at the 58th Annual Meeting.

      The Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund held its 58th Annual Meeting, on the weekend of August 14-16, 2025. Over 400 people from the membership and guests registered and attended both parts of the meeting.
    The first part was the 24th annual Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner, held in Birmingham, to honor the legacy of the woman who served as the initial manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee and founding board member of the Federation. Phylicia Rashard, a stage and TV actress, most famous for her role as Claire Huxtable in the Cosby show, was honored with the Witherspoon Award.
    In her acceptance remarks, Rashard said she was “a person of the earth, like the Black farmers in the Federation. I remember going to visit my grandparents in Louisiana and South Carolina as a child observing them engaging with the land. This helped form the core of my artistic experience. I am a person of the earth, and I carry those experiences with me, wherever I go in life.”
    On Friday and Saturday, the meeting moved to the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center between Epes and Gainesville in Sumter County. The same large crowd followed the program to its rural base.
    On Fridays, there usually is a panel of USDA program officials, who explain the latest changes and developments in Federal small agriculture programs, however this year the Trump Administration is still deliberating over whether the Federation’s mission of ‘cooperative development, upholding Black land ownership and advocacy for public policies benefiting small farmers and rural
    communities’ is in compliance with the President’s Executive Order banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
    In place of the USDA panels, the Federation had a panel on its own program initiatives and workshops on heirs property, forestry an agroforestry, as well as cooperative development
    The Federation’s Memorial Legacy Committee made a presentation on its plans and the development of a master plan for the Memorial Legacy Park, a living memorial of nature trails, gardens, orchards, outdoor classrooms, a remembrance wall, gazebos and other places for small groups to gather, cabins, fishing piers and other places for people to meet, learn, relax, renew and rejuvenate. The Committee suggested ways the membership could participate and support the project.
    On Saturday, there was a Prayer Breakfast featuring Rev. Wendell Paris of Jackson, Mississippi as the spiritual speaker and a best hat contest, honoring the late Mattie Mack, Kentucky Board Member, who always wore special decorative hats to the Federation’s Annual Meeting and Prayer Breakfast.
    At the annual Federation membership business meeting, Shirley Blakely, Chairperson gave some comments and Carrie Fulghum, Treasurer gave some financial data. Blakely introduced and praised Executive Director, Cornelius Blanding, who gave a more detailed report on the work of the Federation.
    In his report, Blanding said the Federation had grown to have $14.5 million in assets and had substantially reduced debts, despite loosing over $17.5 in Federal contracts because of USDA concerns about ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ in Federal contracts. He said, “We are working to assure every farmer gets an official USDA farm number, to enable them to access USDA programs. We want each farm family to have a feasible farm plan and every co-op to have a business plan built from those farm plans. Every landowner, we work with to have an estate plan and a plan to work out any heir’s property problems that they may have,
    Blanding concluded by saying, “The Federation shows the extraordinary things that ordinary people can do – when they work together cooperatively.”
    For more information on the vision, work and programs of the Federation, contact their website at: http://www.federation.coop.

  • Newswire : Top climate organizations react to Trump’s Executive Orders attacking health, environment, climate and clean energy jobs

    By Climate Action Campaign

    WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump wasted no time implementing the Project 2025 playbook. Within his first hours as the 47th President, he issued executive orders aimed at dismantling crucial climate, health, and economic protections, which could have dire consequences for the country and the environment. His actions of disservice to our communities on the first day of his presidency coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day which was meant for service and reflection.

    The policies introduced by President Trump, along with his new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, stand in stark contrast to the spirit of Dr. King’s commitments to service others and improve society.

    Climate Action Campaign (CAC), along with partners and allies, voiced strong concerns about the executive orders and the confirmation of Lee Zeldin as the 17th Environmental Protection Agency administrator. “The new administration has moved to undo hard-earned generational progress like Justice40 that was created to ensure every American has an opportunity to be healthy and thrive,” said Dr. Margo Browne, Senior Vice President of Justice and Equity, at Environmental Defense Fund.

    “These actions threaten the rights of tens of millions of Americans to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and use products free of toxic chemicals, particularly those people whose zip code or race add undue burdens.

    We must stay focused. Leaders change, but our work remains the same. And we will do everything we can to uphold the progress made with our partners and allies and to uplift the people on the frontlines fighting for equity every day.” “As we enter into an era of weaponized phrases and issues, we must remember that environmental justice means that all people should have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment,” said Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer, WE ACT For Environmental Justice.

    “Trump’s day one acts – including rescessions of nearly 80 vital executive orders while adding dozens of new, anti-democratic orders – roll back popular policies that promote clean, renewable, and affordable energy. These actions also place vulnerable communities in even greater danger from pollution and the dire, real-time consequences of the climate crisis. In the face of these assaults, we will not stop pursuing justice.”

    “The President of the United States is elected to lead and protect all Americans,” said Ben Jealous, Executive Director, Sierra Club. “Donald Trump promised to be a president who fights for working families, but his bluster of action shows he’s fighting harder to protect corporate polluters and their profits, all at the expense of our health, our safety, and our jobs. The American people want cheaper energy bills, safe drinking water, and clean air. Donald Trump should listen and offer actual solutions instead of exploiting their pain for political gain while he further lines the pockets of the wealthiest instead of American workers.”

    On the Confirmation of Lee Zeldin, 17th administrator of the EPA:

    “Lee Zeldin’s confirmation as EPA administrator is a catastrophic blow to the health of Americans, the climate, and the economy,” said Margie Alt, Director, Climate Action Campaign. “Under Zeldin’s leadership, the Environmental Protection Agency will no longer protect the American people and our communities – it will protect polluters. Zeldin’s public statements and record make it clear he will implement Trump’s anti-science, anti-clean energy Project 2025 agenda, prioritizing the interests of oil and gas CEOs at the expense of the clean air, water, and energy that Americans overwhelmingly support and rely on.

    Americans deserve an EPA administrator who will prioritize the health and safety of families over polluter profits. Zeldin’s confirmation is a tragic failure for all Americans.”
    “The new head of the EPA must ensure that neither he nor the President denies vulnerable communities their most basic rights—the right to breathe clean air, drink water free from poison, and live on land that does not make them sick,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, Executive Vice President, National Wildlife Federation. “

    Environmental Justice is not a privilege; it is the foundation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  To neglect it is to abandon the people who need protection the most.” “Confirming a director who normalizes baseless conspiracies, while failing to earnestly accept the facts of climate change, is a threat to the health of everyone in the United States and especially the most vulnerable Justice 40 communities,” said KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution. “Lee Zeldin is the antithesis of environment and climate justice. We are amid a climate crisis that demands a protector, not a big oil pawn.”

    Climate Action Campaign is a vibrant coalition of advocacy organizations working together to drive ambitious, durable federal action to cut carbon pollution, address the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

  • Newswire: Jackie Robinson statue found burned and in pieces after it was cut off at the ankles and stolen

    By NBC News and AP

    Fire crews found the burned remnants Tuesday of a prized bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen last week from a public park in Kansas, an incident that sparked outrage across the city of Wichita.
    The Wichita fire department received a call around 8:40 a.m. about a trash can on fire at Garvey Park in the southern part of the city and discovered what appeared to be pieces of the statue, according to police spokesperson Andrew Ford. At a news conference Tuesday, he described it as “not salvageable.”
    The statue, which was cut at the figure’s ankles, disappeared Thursday morning. It honors the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947.
    “If it turns out it was racially motivated, then obviously that is a deeper societal issue and it certainly would make this a much more concerning theft,” said Bob Lutz, executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the sculpture. “We’ll wait and see what this turns out to be.”
    League 42, which is named after Robinson’s Dodgers number, paid about $50,000 for the model, which was installed in 2021 in McAdams Park, where roughly 600 children play in the youth baseball league. It also offers educational programs.
    The police spokesperson said that with assistance from arson investigators, they have conducted more than 100 interviews. Surveillance video shows two people hauling the sculpture away in the dark, to a truck that was later found abandoned.
    “Yes, it’s really disheartening to see the remnants of the statue and the disgraceful way in which it has been disrespected,” Wichita police Chief Joe Sullivan said, describing the discovery of it as a “direct indication of the pressure” suspects felt from the ongoing investigation.
    He said police are conferring with the prosecutor’s office on a regular basis.
    “There will be arrests, but we’re going to make sure that when we do, we will have a solid case,” he said, adding that for anyone involved in the theft “it is only a matter of time.”
    Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He’s considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon.
    Lutz, the nonprofit director, said there will be a new statue installed that will look exactly like the old one, which was made by his friend, the artist John Parsons, before his death. He said the mold is still viable and anticipated that
    “I’m trying to keep it together,” he said, adding: “The statue that reappears at McAdams Park will be the work of John Parsons.” He stressed that “we are ready for some joy.”
    The theft was discovered shortly before Black History Month. But Lutz said in an interview after the news conference that he was hopeful the motive wasn’t racial, but that the thieves just saw the bronze as monetarily valuable.
    Council member Brandon Johnson described the statue as a “symbol of hope” and said donations for the replacement are coming from local businesses and through an online fundraiser.
    “This now lets us know that we need a new statue,” he said of the destroyed remains. “We’re no longer looking for a complete intact statue. We know we need to raise the money to replace it, and we will do so.”

  • Federation holds 54th Annual Meeting; honors Marian Wright Edelman

    The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund held its fifty-fourth Annual Meeting, on a virtual basis over three days, August 19-21, 2021. The Federation started in 1967 by cooperatives and credit unions that were developed during the Civil Rights Movement is now the premier organization representing 75 cooperatives and 10,000 remaining Black farmers in the South. On Thursday evening, the Federation honored Marian Wright Edelman, emeritus director of the Children’s Defense Fund, with its Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award, for her service to low-income people, especially children. Edelman is also a long-time columnist in the Greene County Democrat. This was the twentieth time the Federation awarded its highest award, named for Estelle Witherspoon, former Manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee of Wilcox County and an original incorporator of the Federation. The award was accepted by Oleta Fitzgerald, a long-time colleague of Marian Wright Edelman. On Friday, the Federation hosted a panel of representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on programs and benefits available to Black and family sized farmers, like those in the Federation’s membership. The panel was highlighted by its first speaker, Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack said he was working to “include more equity and diversity in the internal operations, staffing and programs of USDA. He introduced several Black and people of color, that he had selected to serve in leadership positions within USDA. The Secretary also announced the availability of $67 million in funding for an “Heirs Property Re-lending Program” which will assist families facing problems in clearing title to agricultural land, left by deceased relatives, who did not make wills. The Federation worked to get provisions for this program included in the 2018 Farm Bill but the Trump Administration failed to issue regulations to implement the program. The Secretary indicated that he expected the Federation, among others groups, to apply for these funds to implement a stronger program of heirs property assistance. The Secretary also spoke to the assistance for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers in Sections 1005 and 1006 of the American Rescue Plan. The $4 billion of debt relief promised in Section 1005 has been held-up by lawsuits filed by White farmers in 13 Federal Court districts, who charge that the program discriminates against them. Vilsack said USDA was fighting the lawsuits and would continue the moratorium on foreclosures until the legal matters were resolved. He also said that he was working to implement Section 1006 which will provide benefits to BIPOC farmers as Congress intended. Agency heads from Farm Services Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Forestry Service, Rural Development, APHIS, Agricultural Marketing Service and others also spoke about their programs, services and benefits tailored to BIPOC farmers. On Saturday, the Federation held a prayer breakfast followed by a business meeting. Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, reported that despite many challenges the organization was financially stable, staffed and ready to assist its members in growing and having greater success as farmers, fishers and workers in the coming post-pandemic economy. The Federation also award six young people, affiliated with Federation member organizations with a $1,000 college scholarship, named for Anulet Pat Jackson, a former staff member. The scholarships have been funded on an annual basis for the past ten years by Sharing Inc. Pam Madzima, Alabama State Coordinator for the Federation, said, “We have awarded 75 young people scholarships through this program. Many have gone on to complete their studies and serve their communities.”

  • Newswire : John Deere pledges support to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund’s Heirs’ Property Programs

    John Deere tractor

    Atlanta, Georgia, January 6, 2020- For almost a century, the number of Black farmers and Black-owned land steadily declined. One of the primary reasons for that decline was and continues to be heirs’ property. More than 60 percent of Black farmers currently operate on heirs’ property. Heirs’ property—land owned by two or more people, usually with a common ancestor who died without leaving a legal will—is the leading cause of involuntary land loss among Black farmers.
    John Deere is assisting the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund—the oldest and largest Black farmer institution and only cooperatively owned organization of Black farmers, landowners and cooperatives in the country—in its efforts to address heirs property and leverage additional expertise and resources around their Regional Heirs’ Property & Mediation Center. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives has been leading grassroots solutions on heirs’ property, land retention and cooperative wealth building in African American communities in the rural south for over 53 years.
    “The partnership with The Federation will advance resources that will effectively secure property ownership for Black farmers and their families,” said Marc Howze, Group President, Lifecycle Solutions and Chief Administrative Officer for John Deere. “We have a tremendous opportunity to make an impactful difference in the community.”
    “We are pleased to partner with John Deere to help inform and guide their focus, partnerships and resources around heirs’ property,” said Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund. “Over the last 53 years, we have identified resource gaps that prevent Black farmers from resolving their heirs’ property issues. Access to trusted and affordable legal assistance in rural communities of color continues to be a significant challenge for Black farmers,” 
    One of the goals of the partnership will be to provide more legal resources to help farmers gain clear title to their land. John Deere will provide key investments in the federation’s Legal Internship Program and National Heirs’ Property Conference over the next five years.
    “Our commitment signals the beginning of a broader partnership that will unlock the productivity and economic value harnessed in land ownership,” said John C. May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for John Deere. 
    Access to trusted legal assistance is often the greatest challenge heirs’ property owners face. There is a shortage of trusted attorneys who specialize in handling heirs’ property cases. The Federation has successfully worked with Southern University Law Center and other historically Black law schools to create a pipeline of attorneys who fill this gap. Over the last 53 years, the Federation has provided fertile soil to grow land retention professionals and attorneys. The Federation’s Legal Internship Program has been a successful model to expose law students to heirs’ property issues and prepare them to go into rural communities and provide the legal assistance needed to save Black-owned land.
     
    Monica Armster Rainge, the Federation’s Director of Land Retention and Advocacy and an agricultural lawyer, started as a legal intern at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in 1996. “Law Schools rarely focus on the unique legal issues heirs’ property owners face, so my internship experience with the Federation was an eye-opener. I did not know that this was a career choice with so much opportunity to make a real difference in my community,” said Rainge.
     
    Over the years, the Federation has been a training incubator for many of today’s national experts in Black land retention. “We are preparing the next generation of Black lawyers and professionals to meet the growing legal needs in our communities. I am honored to pay my experience forward,” said Rainge.
     
    The Federation’s Legal Internship Program provides law students with a twelve (12) week internship opportunity to assist licensed attorneys with land tenure and heirs’ property issues across the Southeastern United States where heirs’ property is most prevalent. Summer legal interns work under the supervision of a staff attorney in (1) researching and clearing property titles, (2) conducting family meetings and conferences, (3) participating in land retention workshops, (4) researching law and updating legal guides and brochures, (5) drafting legal documents including wills and (6) organizing Community Wills Clinics.
    In addition to supporting the Legal Internship Program, Deere’s commitment will include a major sponsorship of the Federation’s National Heirs’ Property Conference over the next five years. The National Heirs’ Property Conference known as “FORWARD” is the federation’s largest heirs’ property event of the year. The conference is intentionally designed to empower heirs’ property owners with the strategies and resources they need to clear their title and make their land a wealth-building asset. FORWARD is the nation’s largest gathering of heirs’ property owners and passionate land retention practitioners from across the US. The 2nd Annual National Heirs’ Property Conference was a virtual held on, Dec. 2-4, ,2020. This year’s conference will be held on December 1-3, 2021.
    The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, entering its 53nd year, assists limited-resource farmers, landowners, and cooperatives across the South with business planning, debt restructuring, marketing expertise, and a whole range of other services to ensure the retention of land ownership and cooperatives as a tool for social and economic justice. The overall mission is to reverse the trend of black land loss and be a catalyst for the development of self-supporting communities via cooperative economic development, land retention and advocacy. More information is available at: http://www.federation.coop.

  • Exhibit to close August 28 Bicentennial Exhibit opened at Eutaw National Guard Armory

    The exhibit celebrating Alabama’s Bicentennial (200 years – 1819 to 2019) was officially opened with a reception on Monday afternoon at the Eutaw National Guard Armory. The photo shows Commissioner Allen Turner, Jr. speaking at the opening in front of some of the panels in the exhibit.
    The exhibit has eight panels, with interactive computers that explain Alabama history, culture and people over the past two hundred years.

    There is a central set of panels about specific people that influenced Alabama history, including two African-Americans, Rosa Parks, civil rights activist from Montgomery and Justice Oscar Adams, lawyer and Supreme Court Justice.
    Commissioner Turner in his remarks thanked the state for bringing this exhibit to Greene County. Armand DeKeyser, Executive Director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation also spoke. DeKeyer said, “This exhibit has been traveling around the state since last year. This is the 58th county that it has had this exhibit. The celebration will end with an all day program on December 14, 2019 in Montgomery. The program includes a parade, musical guests and other celebrations.”
    “On December 14, we will dedicate a Bicentennial Park across the street from the Capitol where there will be a permanent exhibit to the 200 years,” said DeKeyser.
    Phillis Belcher, Chair of the Greene County Bicentennial Committee said, “We welcome all people to visit this exhibit, including school children, so they can better understand this history. The exhibit will be open, until Wednesday, August 28, 2019, and will be curated by community volunteers.”
    Phillis Belcher thanked all the county agencies and individuals that helped to make the exhibit available to people in Greene County. She indicated that group’s wishing to help or visit the exhibit may contact her office at 205-372-9769 if they have questions or concerns.

  • Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund holds 52nd Annual Meeting

    Jonathan Jackson receiving the Estelle
    Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award and
    Cornelius Blanding FSC/ LAF Executive Director
    Co-op members voting with paddles, for each dues paying co-op, at FSC
    Annual Meeting.
    At FSC Annual meeting Pamela Madzima, Alabama State Association Coordinator, assisted by Briar Blakley, distributes seven $1,000 college scholarships, named for Anulet “Pat” Jackson and supported by Sharing, Inc.

    The Federation of Southern Cooperatives held its 52nd. Annual Meeting this past weekend in Birmingham and Epes, Alabama. The meeting was attended by 400 or more cooperative members, government officials and other guests.
    The 52nd celebration began with the Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner at the BJCC in Birmingham. The award is named for Mrs. Witherspoon, a founding member of the Federation, who served for many years as Manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee in Alberta, Alabama (Wilcox County) and promoted the civil rights and economic justice movements among Black and poor people in her community.
    The Federation’s Board of Directors designated Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, President of PUSH/Rainbow Coalition, who has a long history of working with the Federation, as this year’s award recipient. Due to health concerns, Rev. Jackson was unable to attend the dinner but sent his son Jonathan Jackson to represent him at the dinner.
    Jonathan Jackson, who is an officer of PUSH in Chicago, accepted the award for his father and praised the work of the Federation in raising issues connected by Black farmers and the loss of Black land ownership over the years.

    Jonathan told a story about his son in elementary school telling other students that a photo on the wall was his grandfather. The other students did not believe him but he came back the next day and asked them where was their grandfather’s picture because he knew his grandfather was on the wall.
    Jackson used this story to ask the banquet audience, “What have you done to advance the society; what have you done to make this a more peaceful and harmonious world.”
    The meeting continued on Friday and Saturday at the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center, near Epes, Alabama. Friday morning included a workshop on the resources available from USDA agencies, available to Black farmers and other historically disadvantaged and underserved farmers and landowners, across the nation and in communities around the South in the Federation’s membership territory.
    Among the USDA agencies represented on the panel were the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Farm Service Agency (FSC), Forest Service, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Office of Public and Faith Partnerships (Section 2501 Program), Risk Management Agency (RMA) and others. The panel was followed by almost an hour of questions from farmers and rural advocates in the audience.
    Friday afternoon was filled with concurrent workshops on Land Retention, Heirs Property, Cooperative Development, joint agricultural marketing, safe handling of agricultural produce and Credit Union Development. A forestry tour of the timber resources on the land surrounding the Rural Training Center was also held. These workshops were followed by a delicious fish fry and an active auction of co-op products and contributed items, including a one-year subscription to the Greene County Democrat provided by the Co-Publishers of this newspaper.
    Saturday morning began with a spirited and spiritual prayer breakfast featuring a special sermon on “God is able” by Rev. Wendell H. Paris of the New Hope Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi and a former staff member of the Federation.
    The remainder of Saturday was a business meeting of the Federation’s cooperative membership who heard reports of the programmatic and financial status of the Federation. Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director gave his Management and Stewardship Report suggesting the need for some by-law changes. The membership, divided into state caucuses to discuss by-law changes and updates. The membership voted to increase cooperative dues from $250 to $300 per year and individual membership fees from $25 to $50 per year.
    For more information on the Federation or to purchase an individual membership or to make a general contribution to support the work of the Federation, go to the organization’s website at: http://www.federation.coop.

  • Federation honors memory of Ralph Paige at 51st Annual Meeting

    Pictured above are members of the Paige family including wife Bernice, children Bernard and Kenyatta, and grandchildren on stage with Federation Executive Director, Cornelius Blanding and members of the organization’s Board of Directors. Cornelius Blanding discusses plans for cooperative development curriculum with President Quentin Ross of Alabama State University. The Rural Coalition presents a certificate to the Federation for its 50th anniversary. L to R Shirley Blakley, Chair of Federation Board, Lorette Picciano, Rural Coalition, John Zippert, Rural Coalition Board, Darnella Burkett Winston, Rural Coalition Board, Cornelius Blanding, Federation Executive Director.

    The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund honored the memory of its longtime Executive Director, Ralph Paige, who served for thirty yeas from 1985-2015. He was awarded its Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night in Birmingham at the beginning of the organization’s 51st Annual Meeting. Several speakers at the Witherspoon Award banquet celebrated Ralph Paige’s 46 years of work and service to the movement for Black farmers, land and cooperative development that symbolized the work of the Federation. Paige died recently at the age of 74. The Federation’s Board of Directors met Thursday in Birmingham to review the program direction and finances of the organization. Two Roundtables one on Cooperative Development and one on Land Retention were also held in Birmingham. Quentin Ross, President of Alabama State University in Montgomery spoke at the Cooperative Roundtable of working with the Federation on developing a cooperative education curriculum for the students at ASU including internships with Federation member cooperatives and credit unions. The Federation has developed and is in the process of implementing a similar program with Tuskegee University. On Friday and Saturday the site of the meeting shifted to the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center, near Epes, in Sumter County, Alabama. Friday’s program began with a panel of USDA program experts who both presented about their programs and answered questions from the audience of farmers and landowners. There was a lively interchange of views between USDA officials and their farmer stakeholders on issues of agricultural tariffs, program eligibility, focusing resources on new and beginning farmers and other relevant issues. State Senator Hank Sanders of Selma was the lunchtime speaker and among other remarks, he introduced his daughter, Malika Sanders Fortier, who is running to fill his position as State Senator for District 24 in the November 6 General Election. Several members of Federation related cooperatives gave five-minute testimonials on their experience working with the Federation and how it helped to improve their family income and quality of life. There were more educational workshops, demonstration farm and forestry tours and a fish fry, food tasting, auction and entertainment to close out the Friday activities. The program on Saturday began with a Prayer Breakfast at which Rev. Wendell Paris, a past staff member, spoke to the importance of the work of the Federation and the “sacred ground” that the Federation’s training center was built upon. A business meeting, report from the Board and Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, state caucus discussions on program needs and direction, and the awarding of five $1,000 scholarships to high school graduates for their first year of college rounded out the program.

  • Mike Espy receives award at Federation’s 50th Anniversary

    FederationMike Espy, former Secretary of Agriculture received the Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night in Birmingham as part of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives’ 50th Annual Meeting and anniversary. Shirley Blakely of Mississippi, Board Chair, joined by other board members and Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, presented the award. The meeting continued Friday and Saturday at the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center. More than 500 people attended the three-day celebration. The Federation was founded 1967 by 22 cooperatives and credit unions, arising out of the Civil Rights Movement, who banded together for mutual assistance, training and pooled resources. For more information, see the organization’s website at: http://www.federation.coop.

  • Newswire : Mike Espy to receive Witherspoon Award at Federation’s 50th Annual Meeting celebration

    Mike Espy
    Mike Espy

    The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund will celebrate its 50th. Annual Meeting on August 17 to 19, 2017. The organization was founded in 1967, by 22 cooperatives and credit unions, arising from the Civil Rights Movement, serving low-income farmers and rural people in the South.
    On Thursday evening, August 17, Attorney Mike Espy of Jackson, Mississippi will receive the 16th annual Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Award at a fundraising banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Interstate 495 in Birmingham. Estelle Witherspoon was the Manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee in Alberta, Alabama and a founding member of the Federation.

    Mike Espy served as the first Black Congressman from Mississippi since Reconstruction, from 1987 to 1993. In 1993, President Bill Clinton selected him to be the first African-American and the first Secretary of Agriculture from the Deep South. Today, Espy heads the Mississippi office of the law firm of Morgan and Morgan and was involved in the Pigford Black Farmer Discrimination lawsuits against USDA.

    Espy has worked closely with the Federation in all of his professional pursuits. As a Mississippi Congressman he co-sponsored the “Minority Farers Rights Bill” and helped to get several of its major components, including the Section 2501 Outreach Program, into the 1990 Farm Bill. As Secretary of Agriculture, he worked closely with the Federation on the efforts to bring greater civil rights concern to the department. As a lawyer, he worked closely with the Federation and our members on the Pigford lawsuit.

    On Friday and Saturday, August 18 and 19, the Federation’s Annual Meeting will shift to the organization’s Rural Training and Research Center, near Epes in Sumter County. Friday will be a day of workshops, presentations and celebration of the Federation’s half century of work and achievements on behalf of Black farmers and landowners. Friday evening there will be a fish-fry, wild game tasting and other dishes from the regional membership of the Federation.

    On Saturday, the Federation will hold a prayer breakfast followed by the organization’s business meeting, which includes reports from the Board of Directors, Cornelius Blanding, Executive Director, and state caucuses of the membership.

    Cornelius Blanding said, “For five decades, the Federation has served its membership of Black farmers and other low income rural people across the South. We have held true to our mission and worked at the grassroots level to transform people and communities, many times in the face of racial hostility and economic exploitation, to win a better future with social and economic justice for our membership. I am proud to be part of the continuing legacy of the Federation and hope to lead it into the next half century of progress.”

    Persons interested in attending the Estelle Witherspoon Awards Banquet and the 50th Annual Meeting should go to the organization’s website at http://www.federation.coop to register. Information is also available from the Federation’s offices in Atlanta (404/765-0991) and Epes, Alabama (205/652-9676).