Greene County Democrat

Tag: Rural Coalition

  • January 13 deadline for USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) is fast approaching

    The January 13, 2024, application deadline for the USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program is coming soon. When you get this newspaper there will be less than two weeks left for farmers, who were discriminated against in seeking a farm loan before January 1, 2021, to file the required 40-page application for consideration for a monetary settlement for their mistreatment.

    The $2.2 billion dollar program is authorized in Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in August 2022.

    The financial payout will be from a minimum to a maximum of $500,000 for each claim. The minimum will be determined by the total number of applications approved, the severity of the discrimination experienced and the financial loss to the farmer from the discrimination.

    The application form allows the farmer to describe up to ten incidents of discrimination and the economic losses that occurred as a result. The application also requires documentation of a farmer’s experience, farm location, loan forms and correspondence with USDA farm loan agencies, as well as other relevant information. In cases where documents do not exist, the farmer may submit declarations from non-relatives, attesting to various.
    aspects of what happened.

    The DFAP application and background information is available at the website: http://www.22007apply.gov. The application can be submitted on-line or in written form. It takes four to six hours to complete an application.

    There are eight cooperating organizations, including the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Rural Coalition, Inter-Tribal Agriculture Council, Farmers Legal Action Group, that have been contracted by USDA to provide technical assistance and advice to farmers in filling out and submitting their applications. There is no charge for the services of these organizations.

    The Federation has staff in seven southern states: South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, that are working to assist farmers in submitting their applications. You can reach the Federation through the toll-free number: 1-888-533-3271 or on their website at http://www.federation.coop.

    The Federation has set January 5, 2024, as the deadline for receiving new applications. After that date the Federation will refer farmers to regional hub organizations that may be able to help.

  • Newswire : Groups call for immediate implementation of Emergency Relief for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Farmers and Ranchers on final passage of American Rescue Plan

    On behalf of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Rural Coalition and many other organizations who support the groundbreaking Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, we congratulate Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D- NM), Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), House Agriculture Chairman David Scott (D-GA) and all others who won inclusion of this historic relief in the final COVID Emergency Budget Reconciliation Package. We urge all members of the US House to vote for final passage of the full package in the US House of Representatives. The bill provides $5 billion to farmers of color with $4 billion going towards direct relief payments to farmers of color struggling with farm loan debt and help with responding to the economic effects of the pandemic.  Fighting to rebound economically, Black farmers like James Childs Jr., a member of the Federation, have experienced the worst for his small farm in Greene County, Alabama. He stated, “We lost some customers, and we now have to do more door to door to get rid of the produce we can’t sell. We lost about 20% of our farm income. We need that income to pay our land lease.”   The bill will use the remaining $1 billion to support USDA programs to address systemic racism and provide technical and legal support for agricultural communities and farmers like Childs. The bill also promises debt forgiveness for Black farmers who filed claims under Pigford v. Glickman class action discrimination suit filed against USDA. “After decades of inequitable treatment by USDA, this bill is a critical step to mitigating years of discrimination, neglect and limited services by USDA that have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Rural Coalition Chairperson John Zippert. “We strongly urge all members of the US House to quickly complete final passage of the full Emergency Budget Reconciliation Package which is critical for all rural communities. And we urge the US Department of Agriculture to work swiftly to speed the debt relief and targeted technical assistance that this nation’s Black, Indigenous and People of Color producers intensely need in the face of this pandemic.” Rudy Arredondo, President of the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association noted that “We are glad to see that this Congress, with a long history of providing generous debt and disaster relief to the agriculture sector has finally opened the door to the farmers who did not benefit from the kinds of federal assistance other producers received and require to survive. At long last, this nation will extend the relief this diverse sector of producers deserves to support their families, contribute to their communities and transfer farmland and the farming vocation to future generations.” “This emergency assistance for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers is a long time in coming. Passage of this omnibus bill will finally provide relief on the scale needed to address the cumulative impact of continuing discrimination and reverse the persistent decline of BIPOC farmers and the disruption of their local food economies, said Savonala Horne, Esq., director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. “This well-timed relief also benefits rural communities burdened by the COVID-19 Pandemic. We stand ready to work with Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to swiftly and wisely implement these programs in a manner that speeds relief and constructs the support structure needed to ensure success.” “The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signifies an important first step in addressing the invisibility and interminable racism experienced by black farmers and other underrepresented farmers. Although many black farmers and landowners are now prematurely deceased or no longer viable farmers, many black families across our nation still have hope that their children and grandchildren will become successful landowners, farmers, entrepreneurs, and more,” stated Gary R. Redding, chairperson of the Concerned Citizens of Tillery. “The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, a member of the Rural Coalition and led by Gary R. Grant, hope that the Act’s debt relief funds, grants, education and training, and other forms of assistance will not be undermined and weakened like the New Deal Farm Project of the 1930s. Many of the children and grandchildren of black farmers are still paying for debts that were created by racism at USDA. We will continue to be united for the survival and viability of black farmers and other underrepresented farmers.”

  • Newswire: U.S. farmers and allied food justice advocates express solidarity with the historic farmer protests in India

    Indian farmers’ protest

    87 U.S.-based groups delivered a solidary statement to Indian farmers, calling for action from both U.S. and Indian governments

    Mineapolis—Today, 87 farmer organizations and allied agroecology, farm and food justice groups in the United States delivered a solidarity statement in support of Indian farmers’ historic protests to Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a united front of over 40 Indian farmers unions. In the statement, U.S. groups express respect for the unified struggles of the farmers and farmworkers and urge both U.S. and Indian governments to support independent family farmers and localized food systems to protect food sovereignty and the livelihoods of millions.
    India’s farmers have mobilized to create one of the world’s most vibrant protests in history against unjust farm laws that will increase agribusiness’ stranglehold over their food system. They have rallied around a cry for the repeal of three laws — passed without farmers’ knowledge or consultation — that aim to liberalize Indian agriculture and food sectors, not only at the cost of farmers, but also the food security of India’s poor. One key demand of the protesting farmers is for farmers to receive a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops to limit the market power of buyers in highly unequal markets.
    The U.S.-based signatories of the solidarity statement recognize the role the U.S. government has played in creating the conditions that led to these repressive laws. The U.S. has been a key opponent of India’s limited use of MSP at the World Trade Organization, arguing that it represents an unfair subsidy. Yet, the U.S. government spends tens of billions of dollars on its agriculture, much of it in programs that directly contribute to low prices and commodity dumping in international markets. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has a powerful opportunity to shift U.S. trade policy to allow other countries to support fair markets for their farmers and shift its own agricultural policy to ensure parity and environmental and racial justice in the U.S.
    The signatories are concerned by several additional factors not included in this statement, such as the unconstitutional ways in which these laws were passed without following proper parliamentary rules and the Indian government’s use of authoritarian tactics to deny farmers’ right to dissent democratically.
    The solidarity statement was co-sponsored by members of U.S. farm, food and racial justice organizations, including the National Family Farm Coalition, Rural Coalition, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, as well as diasporic Indians who continue to work with farmers groups in India.
    “Liberalizing markets without taking into account farmers’ political voice and protecting against concentrated buyer power makes a mockery of what markets should stand for; we denounce the three farm bills, the lack of consultation with farmers and their organizations, and stand in solidarity with the brave stance India’s farmers are taking,” says Sophia Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
    “A majority of India’s farmers are hurting, and the draconian steps that the Indian state has taken in response to peaceful farm law protests (demanding assured returns on farm produce) and against those supporting the strike (such as the detention of 21-year-old Disha Ravi, co-founder of Fridays For Future in India) is making the fault lines of Indian democracy visible to the world. India is at a turning point: it can decide to honor the demands of its farmers or continue to stand by Indian billionaires who would benefit from these farm laws,” says Shiney Varghese, senior policy analyst at IATP.
    “The Rural Coalition, which has fought for four decades for the civil and human rights for all producers and farmworkers in this nation, sends our strong support and deep respect to the heroic family farmers and farmworkers of India as you stand united together to protect the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and stop government policies that destroy the livelihood and future of family farmers, farmworkers and rural peoples,” says John Zippert, chair of Rural Coalition.
    To read the statement and view the full list of signatories, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/3pA3adJ.

  • 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.

  • John Zippert running for State Democratic Executive Committee District 72

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    John Zippert is running for the State Democratic Executive Committee in District 72, which includes parts of Greene, Hale and Perry Counties. He will be on the ballot in the Democratic Primary on June 5, 2018
    Zippert is currently the Co-Publisher and Editor of the Greene County Democrat weekly newspaper based in Eutaw, Alabama. He has worked in management and training capacities with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund based at the organization’s Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama, for the past 50 years and is semi-retired from the Federation.
    Zippert serves on the Greene County Health Systems Board of Directors and the Greene County Industrial Development Authority Board.
    He is a founding member of the Alabama New South Coalition and serves as its current State President. He serves on the boards of several state and national organizations including the Alabama Council on Human Relations, Rural Coalition, Rural Development Leadership Network and others.
    ‘I am running for the State Democratic Executive Committee because I want to help reform and revitalize the Democratic Party in Alabama. I want to build on the momentum we gained in electing Doug Jones to the United States Senate in the Special Election last December,” said Zippert.

    He continued, “The Democratic Party in Alabama must be part of a fifty state strategy to elect progressive candidates committed to assisting poor and working people make changes that increase fairness, justice and inclusion of all people and share the prosperity of this economy more equitably with everyone.”
    Zippert is married to Carol Prejean Zippert, Co-Publisher of the Democrat and Greene County School Board member. They have three children and eleven grandchildren.

  • ‘Ride to Restore Section 5’ grassroots lobbyists push Voting Rights Advancement Act in Washington, D. C.

    Special to the Democrat by: John Zippert,
    Co-Publisher

    Hodge.jpgwash group.jpgCongresswoman Terri Sewell address youth as part of the training to support ride to revive Section 5.

    A group of sixty community activists from Alabama went to Washington, D. C. in six vans from Sunday to Tuesday (June 24-27, 2017) to support the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), HR 2948, introduced last week by our Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell.
    The bill was introduced on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby vs, Holder decision, which gutted Sections 4 and 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

    The Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore and advance Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act to include 14 states and other political subdivisions. These areas would again be placed under the protection of Section 5 and be required to have any election changes pre-cleared by the Department of Justice before they could be implanted.
    The VRAA updates the criteria and establishes a nationwide coverage formula for states and political subdivisions that would be subject again to the pre-clearance provisions of Section 5. Any state that has had 15 or more voting violations in the last 25-year period; or 10 or more voting violations, at least one of the violations committed by the state itself, would be covered. A political subdivision within a state can be covered if it commits 3 or more voting violations.
    The bill also carefully defines what constitutes a voting rights violation and which election changes must be submitted for pre-clearance.
    Congresswoman Terri Sewell said, “The VRAA is an advancement bill, it advances voting rights throughout the country. Under this bill, all eleven states that were part of the Confederacy, including Alabama, as well as other political subdivisions around the nation and on tribal lands would be covered and subject to the pre-clearance provisions.”
    The VRAA would classify voting changes such as strict voter photo identification requirements, and voter registration requirements to be reviewed and possibly overturned if they were deemed to be more stringent than the requirements in Section 303b of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.The VRAA, HR 2948, has 182 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. They are all Democrats. And the companion legislation S.1490 in the Senate has 46 co-sponsors, also all Democrats, so far.
    The grassroots voting activists visited more than 75 Congressional offices, including the membership of the House Judiciary Committee, Alabama’s delegation of six Republican members besides Sewell and our two Senators – Richard Shelby and Luther Strange. The grassroots activists left a package of information including factsheets on the legislation, a Senate Sketches by State Senator Hank Sanders of Selma, which deals with the “power of one vote”, and materials about the Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma, the first weekend in March each year.
    On Tuesday morning, the Alabama group joined by other activists in Washington from the Rural Coalition, Food and Water Watch, National Family Farm Coalition and other groups had a rally and press conference on the Capitol grounds facing the Cannon House Office Building on Independence Avenue and First Street NE.
    The rally had many chants supporting the revival of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act along with civil rights freedom songs. Several Congresspersons, including Terri Sewell, G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina, Marc Veasey of Dallas, Texas and Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts addressed the rally. Congressman John Lewis drove by the rally on Independence Avenue and saluted the crowd.
    On Monday night, the group had a meeting at Howard University Law School, which was addressed by several civil rights veterans, including former D. C. Congressman Walter E.
    Fauntroy, Viola Bradford, who wrote for the Southern Courier newspaper in Montgomery, Antonio Harrison, a former Alabama State Senator, who lives and works in D. C. Professor Ardua of the Law School spoke on the need for reparations to address the continuing impact of slavery on Black people.
    The Ride to Revive Section 5 was sponsored by the SOS Coalition for Justice and Democracy, Alabama New South Coalition and other local groups in Alabama. For more information or to make donations to help the cause – contact Shelley Fearson at 334-262-0932 or email: Alabamanewsouth Coordinator@ aol.com