Watch SOIL STORIES recordings on the
NM Healthy Soil YouTube Channel:
Movie Screening and Panel
Offered by Slow Food Santa Fe and NM Healthy Soil in honor of Black History Month
Documentary:
Follow the Drinking Gourd (2019)
Family-friendly, funny and moving, this 60-minute documentary about the Black food justice movement connects the legacy of slavery, land loss and climate change to our fight for food security. Watch the trailer
Panelists:
Shirah Dedman, Filmmaker
Shirah is a filmmaker, journalist, attorney, and activist creating content at the intersection of economics, race and the environment. Her short film on the displacement of Black Oakland, YOU A NOMAD, broadcasted on Free Speech TV. Shirah is a 2018-2019 Associate of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and of the Equal Justice Initiative. Passionate about cooperative action, she’s a member of Liberated Lens, a horizontally-run, intersectional, social justice film collective. The journey to making FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD changed the course of her life. Shirah is now pursuing her Master of Laws in Agriculture & Food Law at the University of Arkansas Law School.
mayam garris, Ancestral Acres Farm and Garden
mayam (they/them/theirs) is a black, trans, queer farmer originally from Catawba Territory (Charlotte, NC) and is currently living on occupied Tiwa Territory (Albuquerque, NM). Farming has been in their family heritage for many generations and they feel proud to continue the legacy of stewarding the land and being in relationship with spirit. mayam is pursuing their dreams of managing their own farm, as Land Steward of Ancestral Acres Farm and Garden. Ancestral Acres Farm and Garden is dedicated to growing food and highly adapted seeds and building healthy soil as a way of paying homage to those who’ve come before us.
As a farmer, mayam recognizes the importance of healthy relationships with land, water, and life. Furthering the endeavor of growing food, mayam is dedicating their life and practice as a farmer to growing seeds to share with the community, providing transformative spaces for people of the global majority to fellowship, and tending to healthy soils for all to thrive.
Shahid Mustafa, Taylor Hood Farms
Shahid Mustafa is the founder of Taylor Hood Farms in La Union, NM.The farm is named in honor of his maternal grandfather Archie Taylor and Tom Hood who were occupational farmers in the early 20th century. Taylor Hood Farms has 6 acres of seasonal vegetable production as well as chickens, goats, and rabbits. The small diverse farm is dedicated to educating and training community members about growing food and local food systems and to providing community members access to a variety of fresh, nutritious locally grown vegetables. Taylor Hood Farms is an incubator for regenerative organic farmers, and hopes to be an inspiration for farmers to adopt regenerative organic practices.
Moderator:
Sunshine Muse, Executive Director of Black Health New Mexico
With over 25 years of academic and professional training, and a lifelong commitment and passion for social justice and equity, Sunshine Muse brings a unique perspective and expertise to facilitation. Originally from New York City, Muse’s work focuses on understanding and navigating the complex dynamics of health disparities and equity and identifying and creating community centered solutions to address them. As director of Black Health New Mexico, she started a farm to table program in 2020 that purchased fresh produce directly from mostly women and people of color owned northern New Mexico farms and delivered this food to 45-50 Black families. This program has grown to bring Black people and families back to the land by growing organic and pesticide free food to feed their own households and tending to community gardens in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties.