Rooted Resilience: Land, Legacy, and Climate

Rooted Resilience: Land, Legacy, and Climate

Gather with us on May 12 at Black Futures Farm to reconnect with ancestral growing traditions, explore Afro-Indigenous farming practices, and exchange knowledge about caring for land and community in a changing climate.

This is the first workshop in a three-part series designed for farmers, gardeners, land stewards, and anyone ready to reconnect with land and lineage while farming in a changing climate. Whether you grow on a balcony, backyard, or acreage, you are welcome.

Date: May 12
When: 5:00–7:30 PM. Dinner will be provided.
Where: Black Futures Farm

Together, we’ll reflect on our relationships to land, food, and lineage while building practical strategies to care for soil, water, and community.

Rooted Resilience: Land, Legacy, and Climate is presented by Ecotrust and Azimu Group in partnership with Black Futures Farm

Intended Audience

This workshop series is designed for new farmers, urban gardeners, home growers, land stewards, and anyone interested in reconnecting with land and lineage while learning to farm in a changing climate. Whether you’re growing in a backyard, on a balcony, or managing acreage, we’d love to have you join us.

Family-Friendly Event

Children are welcome at this workshop. We welcome families to bring their young ones to learn, explore, and enjoy the farm alongside them. Activities will be family-friendly, and we will create a space where all generations can connect with the land and with each other.

Language

The instruction will be delivered in English.

Cost

Free

Registration closes 1 hour before the workshop begins.

About the Organizers

Ecotrust

Ecotrust is a regional nonprofit working in partnership from California to Alaska toward the vision of a more just, prosperous, and climate-smart future. Ecotrust’s mission is to inspire fresh thinking that creates economic opportunity, social equity, and environmental well-being. Our goal is to foster a natural model of development that creates more resilient communities, economies, and ecosystems here and around the world. Our approach focuses on impact at the intersections of equity, the economy, and the environment. Together, we uplift Indigenous leadership to respond to contemporary land and water management challenges, connect schools with local producers, provide technical support for community-centered businesses, and more.

Azimu Group

Azimu Group is a consulting firm dedicated to institutionalizing sustainable and inclusive governance. Its mission is to collaboratively build resilient institutions and communities. Azimu develops future-oriented solutions to global challenges through organizational design, strategic planning, and cross-sector partnerships.

Black Futures Farm

Black Futures Farm works to heal connections between Black people and the land by cultivating an affirming space for the Black community to gather in joy. Black Futures Farm offers seasonal CSA programs, regenerative agriculture programming, supported by the Portland Clean Energy Fund, and community-building events such as Black Sunday, where Black folks gather, celebrate, learn, and grow together.

About the Workshop Facilitators

Professor James King Jr., MAED

James grew up helping on his grandparents’ farm in Georgia. At Seattle Central College, he taught Food System Analysis, where students explored how food production, environment, and social dynamics intersect in the Pacific Northwest. He is currently the interim executive director of Seattle’s Black Farmers Collective. When he’s not organizing for food justice, James enjoys swimming with sharks and hiking in the woods.

Malcolm Hoover

Malcolm is a husband, father, grandfather, and third generation community organizer. He is the co-founder of Black Futures Farms, in SE Portland, and a member of the BFSC leadership team. His many jobs have included: assembly line worker making Doppler radar rigs, journalist, tech writer, High School and Elementary School teacher, counselor, US Navy Weatherman, video game tester, and book peddler. Malcolm’s first book, “144 Poems and Essays for God, Love, Truth, Justice, Peace and Hip Hop,” was published in 2015 by Tayen Lane Press.

Mirabai Collins

Mirabai Collins is co-founder and director of Black Futures Farm, placemaking and production farm in Portland, Oregon. Having recently earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on Black Ecologies from the University of Oregon, she continues to work for Black people and food systems justice.

Daniel Grady

Hailing from Durham, NC, Daniel Grady is the grandson of a hog and produce farmer, considers himself an extension of his grandfather’s work. He has a passion for being active, food, people, how they work as a system, and bridging those gaps across multiple intersections of life. Having moved to Portland in 2020, after a career in manufacturing and retail, he decided to channel his passions for tech and people; it guided him to Black Futures Farm. Now, as lead farmer, he is learning to steward the land, build strong, lasting community relationships, while emphasizing the importance of the access and the benefits they have within the Black community. He is an avid runner, lover of knowledge, and friend of the environment and is hopeful to implement those gifts.

Accessibility Notes

Water: Please bring a reusable water bottle and avoid single use plastic containers.

Food: Our shared meal will include omnivore, gluten-free, plant-based options. We invite you to bring a meal that supports your own personal wellness needs in place of what is provided if needed.

Bathroom: There is an outdoor porta potty. There are also multiple sinks for hand washing and filling water bottles.

Sensory Environment: There may be multiple conversations or background noise happening at once.

Interaction level: Medium. We will invite guests to share personal stories and will ask a variety of questions about people’s experience with farming. Participation is optional.

Animals: No animals are permitted on the farm except qualified service animals under the ADA. If you are bringing a service animal, please let us know by emailing foodsystemsequity@ecotrust.org at least 5 business days before the scheduled event. In your email, please include the type of animal and the work or task the animal has been trained to do. Service animals must be kept on leash, under control, and away from crops. Pets and emotional support animals are not permitted on the farm.

Email foodsystemsequity@ecotrust.org if you have additional questions or accommodation requests. Please email requests at least 2 weeks in advance when possible.