Common Summer Reading

Readings and Links:

• Black Earth 

Introduction

“Black Earth” profiles Patrick Brown, the owner of Brown Family Farms & Produce, located in the northeastern Piedmont region of North Carolina. In 2021, Brown also became the owner of Oakley Grove Plantation, where his ancestors were once enslaved. The plantation purchase is part of Brown’s “commitment to building sovereignty for his family and community,” but it is not the whole story. Brown pioneers regenerative agricultural practices and advocates for policies that will benefit Black farmers like him, working to create an agricultural system that is profitable, sustainable, and equitable. 

Brown’s story is told within the context of several generations of his family, a history that reveals the intertwining of politics and environmentalism. Brown’s full name—Patrick Chandler Brown—arose from his father Arthur’s attempts to prevent the dumping of toxic soil polluted with PCBs in Warren County. Arthur’s activism ignited an understanding of “environmental racism,” and it is still true today that landfills are placed near the homes of the marginalized and impoverished. 

Arthur also experienced discrimination from the USDA, which was faulted with delaying loan payments to minority farmers in the 1999 Pigford v. Glickman class action lawsuit. Since Arthur received his loan money later than other farmers, he was unable to plant crops on time, and he endured less productive harvests. After witnessing his father’s struggles, Brown decided he did not want to be reliant on loans. He works full-time at the nonprofit Nature for Justice, and he utilizes CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) to finance the farm’s costs at the beginning of the growing season. These diverse revenue streams allow him the freedom to experiment with crops that replenish the soil instead of exhausting it. 

Despite his enthusiasm for agriculture, Brown did not always want to be a farmer. His other careers include a real estate account executive, an agricultural advisor working in Afghanistan, and an employee of the Department of Defense. However, Brown learned that he was most fulfilled working on his parents’ farm during the weekends, and he decided his true purpose lay in farming. He reflects, “This is my passion… This is where I belong.”

“Black Earth” offers us harsh truths about systemic injustice, but it is also a story of triumph and overcoming. Yet it is notable that Brown’s success is rooted in community. Where do we see injustice in our world today? What unique talents do we possess, and how can we develop those gifts to achieve equity? How can we contribute to our community?    

Getting the Most Out of the Common Reading Experience

Other than the links, you will need a few other items to prepare adequately for a discussion of this reading:

• A pen or pencil to take notes on (literally) the reading. Some of you may have heard this described as text annotation.
  • Effective text annotation includes: marking interesting portions of the reading you would like to think about further, underlining or circling words you need to look up to understand a passage, circling names or dates, marking passages you feel are important to the author’s point, and writing questions you have for the author in the margins of the page.
  • Close reading and careful annotation will help you read more intently and deeply, gaining a level of understanding of material you will need in a college setting to confidently engage in a conversation with peers and faculty about a text.
• A separate piece of paper. Treat reading course materials as you would written correspondence, a written conversation.
  • Write down questions you have for the author, your classmates, and your professor.
  • You will be engaged in correspondence with others over this material. Your FYS instructor expects you to be prepared to share your ideas on this reading when you arrive on campus.
  • To assist you in this effort, we include a series of questions to consider and respond to prior to reading, while you read, and after you read to focus attention, analysis, notes, and future conversation.

 Before you read questions:   

• Look up Warren County, NC on a map. How far is it from Catawba College? Compare images of Warren and Rowan County (where Catawba College is located). In what ways does the landscape seem similar? How is it different?
• Do you know where your trash goes? Research your local landfill. Are there neighborhoods near the landfill? Can you discover any information about how that space was chosen for a landfill?
• What values has your family or community instilled in you? How do those values shape what you think is important in life? How do those values influence your decisions about your future?

As you read questions:

• Pay attention to which events occurred in the past to Brown’s ancestors, and which events occur in the present. How do his ancestors’ experiences impact Brown’s choices today?
• How are politics and environmentalism intertwined within the text?
• One of the contributions of the PCB protests was to understand how race, class, and environmental justice are linked. How does the text help to further understand these relationships? 

After you read questions:

• Although he is a fourth-generation farmer, Brown originally did not want to be a farmer. Why do you think he was resistant to farming? Have you ever tried to resist a calling, but found yourself unable to?
• Brown’s father Arthur was a pastor and a farmer; Brown works at a non-profit while maintaining his farm. Are there similarities between these distinct purposes? Is it possible to have multiple vocations?
• Catawba Colleges celebrates scholarship, character, culture, and service as its four major values. Where do you see evidence of these values in Brown’s life?
• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are integrated and indivisible, and they balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental. Take a moment to investigate the goals. How does Brown’s non-profit work, participation in Community Supported Agriculture, and commitment to regenerative farming aid in achieving these goals?
• Patrick Brown will be visiting Catawba College this semester to speak with our students. What questions do you have for him?  

Historical Context and Sources for Review

Legal Events: Pigford v. Glickman

In Black Earth, the author mentions a lawsuit against the USDA based upon its discriminatory policies. The case, Pigford v. Glickman, alleged that the USDA had discriminated against Black farmers by denying these farmers federal financial aid and that the agency did not properly investigate civil rights complaints. Similar suits were filed on behalf of Hispanic, Native American, and female farmers in the respective cases: Garcia v. Vilsack, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, and Love v. Vilsack. These cases stem from a 1994 report that found minority and socially disadvantaged farmers had low levels of participation in USDA programs and received less than expected levels of money for loans and payments. In 1997, the USDA developed a Civil Rights Action Plan that acknowledged past harms and offered solutions but failed to provide a mechanism to address past harms and financial compensation for the USDA’s actions. The Pigford settlement provided over $2 billion to eligible farmers.

The history of discriminatory policies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture goes beyond the policies and programs at the heart of the Pigford case. Across the many civil rights studies conducted, there have been consistent themes. First, there has been documented evidence that there were discrimination issues at the USDA, which included both how policies and programs were administered and within the agency itself. Second, is that internal processes for addressing civil rights violations have largely been ineffective. Previous studies conducted before the study at the heart of the Pigford case provided details about discrimination within how the programs were administered, the ineffectiveness of procedures to address complaints, and—importantly—the norm of following local and state values even if contrary to federal laws and policies. 

The policies pursued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, plus its administration of programs, policies, and grants have had repercussions for American farmers. In 1920, it was estimated that there were 925,708 Black farmers in the United States. Over the 20th and 21st century, these numbers have fallen. In 2017, there were estimated 35,470 Black farmers in the United States. As recently as 2021, the Government Accountability Office found that there continues to be racial and income disparities in access to loan and grant programs administered by the USDA. 

Sources for Review:

• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/losing-ground/id1036276968?i=1000390341226 (Pigford v. Glickman and systemic discrimination against Black farmers)
• NPR, “How Department of Agriculture is Reckoning with Racial Inequity”
• Congressional Research Service Report, The Pigford Cases: USDA Settlement of Discrimination Suits by Black Farmers
• Timeline of reports regarding the USDA and treatment of Black farmers

Environmental Events : NC’s Warren County 1982 Protests

PCB stand for Polychlorinated Biphenyls which are man-made organic chemicals consisting of carbon, hydrogen and chlorine atoms. They are used in numerous industrial and commercial applications like paints and dyes, electrical and hydraulic equipment, and other industrial applications. PCBs are known to have health effects affecting the nervous and immune systems and can cause cancer. Because of these risks, the US banned the manufacturing of PCBs in 1979.

In 1978 the Ward Transformer Company, out of Raleigh NC, illegally spilled 31,000 gallons of PCB fluid along 240 miles of state roads. The spill, one of the largest in U.S. history, resulted in dangerously high contamination levels. In response, North Carolina and the federal government sued the company, but the state was left to clean up the mess. Several disposal options were considered, including burying the waste within North Carolina, trucking it to other states, or incinerating it, but logistical and cost challenges led to the decision to bury it locally. In 1979, the state approved the construction of a PCB landfill in Warren County, a rural area with shallow water table, permeable soil, but what is more important it is a majority-black poor community. The residents were not notified until December 1978, and the announcement sparked immediate opposition. Within days, local citizens formed the Warren County Citizens Concerned About PCB and quickly mobilized to oppose the plan. On January 2, 1979, the county commissioners voted unanimously against the dump, sending their resolution to Governor Hunt, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and state officials. Despite this, the state's plan moved forward, setting the stage for the 1982 protests.

On September 15, 1982, a multiracial group of 130 people marched to the dump site, carrying signs and chanting, while being monitored by law enforcement and National Guard helicopters. Led by community leaders like Ken Ferruccio and local pastors, the protest resulted in 55 arrests and gained national media attention, including coverage on CBS. After six weeks of similar actions, Time magazine recognized the protest as one of the most significant against toxic waste dumping. Although the landfill still exists to this day, these events were considered the catalyst for the Environmental Justice Movement in the US.

Sources for review:

• Learn about Polychlorinated Biphenyls
• From the Archives: Dumping on Warren County
• The Environmental Justice Movement
• YouTube video: PCB Protest in Warren County 1982
• YouTube video: Warren County PCB protestors reflect on historic movement against toxic waste landfill

• 2024 - "Think Little" - Wendell Berry
• 2023 - Elie Wiesel, “The Perils of Indifference” and David Foster Wallace, “This is Water” 
• 2022 - A Conversation On Leadership: “Solitude and Leadership" - William Deresiewicz; “The Quest for Peace and Justice” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 2021 - “The Perils of Indifference” - Elie Wiesel; “This is Water” - David Foster Wallace
• 2019 - "Teach Yourself to Learn"  - Saundra McGuire
• 2018 - "Their Finest Hour" - Winston Churchill
• 2017 - "The Quest for Peace and Justice"  - Dr. Martin Luther King
• 2016 - "Stepping Out" - David Sedaris
• 2015 - “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” -  Marina Keegan
• 2014 - Kenyon Commencement Address  - David Foster Wallace
• 2013 - "The Real Work" - Adam Gopnik 
• 2012 - "The Checklist Manifesto" - Atul Gawande
• 2011 - "Zeitoun" - Dave Eggers
• 2010 - "Three Cups of Tea" - Greg Mortenson
• 2009 - "In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars" - Kevin Sites
• 2008 - "We Are All the Same" - Jim Wooten
• 2007 - "Mountains Beyond Mountains" - Tracy Kidder
• 2006 - "The Kite Runner" - Khaled Hosseini
• 2005 - "Why Things Bite Back" - Edward Tenner