❄ End of the Year Greetings ❄
❄️Seasons Greetings❄️
It's already December and a whole year has come and gone. We remember just twelve months ago we were closing the year looking towards what was in store for us as a collective. We've done a lot in 2021 from the BPOC Growers Grants, events at House of Annetta, the Rootz Into Food Growing report, a zine called Callaloo, Gourds and Banjos for our collaborative project Cultivating Justice, as well as featuring on a bunch of different podcasts, articles and events.
It has been a busy year and as we go through a lot of changes in 2022, we are all looking forward to slowing down and finding ways to resource ourselves so that we can focus on one of our core aims - securing land for a Black and people of colour-centred land project in Britain, both urban and rural. Many land projects and community gardens are inevitably white-led in this country - we want both LION and other BPOC-led groups and organisations to get land so that we don't have to rely on spaces which have not centred anti-racism at the heart of their work in a meaningful way.
Another of our hopes for next year is to spend more time building up our processes, systems and capacities as a collective so that we can support our network, facilitate more events and spaces for communing, learning and skill-sharing as well as becoming more accountable to our sprouting community. More than anything we want to be part of an eco-system of landworkers, climate, land and racial justice actionists who want a world better than the one we have.
So, how are our liberations linked? How will we strive together to make things different and better?
We hope that you are able to find time to rest and be with the ones you love and we look forward to connecting again in the new year
BPOC Growers Grants
There were a total of 334 applications, requesting a total of £191,200. Originally, we had a meagre £36,000 to distribute for our grant scheme, but the panellists secured an additional £15,000 while assessing the applications. Unfortunately, there was still a £131,200 excess over what was available. We really wish we could have supported more people with these grants, but the demand will always outstrip what’s available. Yet our panellists worked incredibly hard and managed to select 112 successful grantees.
With the money we were raised we were able to allocate some funds to follow-up work: the creation of a resource-pack for anyone interested in getting into growing especially Black people and people of colour lacking financial privilege; the creation of a London-based BPOC growers network.
As a land justice organisation, LION’s focus is beyond financial. Organisations who are gifted land, should pass land on, if committed to racial equity. We remain a grassroots collective who will not become a funding body. It speaks to our values that we tried to support beyond our means early on in our existence, while still setting up our website and organisation. We will continue supporting growers through providing resources; information on future funding, projects, free training and events where we can. We like to share opportunities for training within our network, though the caveat here is we require some degree of trust that racial justice work within the organisation is already ongoing, so we don’t expose our communities to further harm.
We will be writing more on our website and in our newsletter about our experience with the BPOC Growers Grants and what we want larger organisations and funding bodies to do next.
House of Annetta | Anne:Seed
We've had a lot of fun this summer and autumn at House of Annetta, doing up the garden and curating a series of events will brilliant facilitators. We'll be trying our best to maintain the garden - Sam is going to plant some bulbs for Spring this week. We'll be uploading a project page on House of Annetta in the new year giving a debrief and sharing some photos from some of the event. But if you'd like to see some highlights you can explore them here.
OXFORD REAL FARMING CONFERENCE
(The conference has now been moved online. You can get an online ticket and access the entire event here)
This year at the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2022, we are programming a room specifically around justice within agricultural spaces, in partnership with Shared Assets. Our Justice Room will be a dedicated safe space within the conference, aiming to empower and allow a sharing of knowledge, particularly for anyone discriminated-against or marginalised within agricultural spaces. Through our Justice Room and Theory of Change Workshop, we will work to build solidarity with, explore and amplify work around land, racial, food, environmental and all forms of social justice, as well as their intersections. On Wednesday 5th January, we are hosting a workshop session in collaboration with Shared Assets to explore a shared Theory of Change:
The land justice movement in the UK has grown significantly over the past 10 years. We have seen land reform and community land buyouts in Scotland, and the emergence of an active and increasingly diverse movement of new organisations, campaigns, collectives, activists, writers and thinkers, speaking and acting on issues of land ownership, access, coloniality, climate and racial justice. Each of us has our own starting points, priorities and approaches to working on land justice. We might never agree on a single way to achieve a more just land system, but could we develop a shared theory of change, and would that give greater cohesion and focus to our efforts whilst recognising, valuing and supporting a diversity of approaches and positions? Our workshop session will explore what our aims are, who needs to be involved, and what kind of processes and resources we need to create a shared theory of change. Come and help us develop a collective way - or ways - forward towards land justice.
Registration for the event can be done here using an ORFC access code. Tickets are free although there is a cost to running these workshop sessions so please do pay a solidarity price if you can. If you would like to attend our workshop and haven't got an ORFC ticket, please contact Shared Assets' Movement Building Coordinator, christabel@sharedassets.org.uk.
Other things to look out for:
THURSDAY 6TH JANUARY
LAND, RACE & EMPIRE - Sam Siva will be in conversation with the keynote speaker, Corinne Fowler at 4pm with Josina Calliste chairing the talk.
ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO BPOC FARMING - REFLECTIONS ON THE ROOTZ INTO FOOD GROWING REPORT - Pauline Shakespeare, Lufti Radwan and Hari Covert discuss the findings of RFG report and the next steps at 9:30am
BUILDING RESILIENCE IN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS THROUGH SPIRITUAL CONNECTION TO LAND - Featuring our friends Sui Searle (Decolonise the Garden), Jo Kamal from Youth In Flame, and other great speakers at 2pm
STAYING ROOTED IN A SHIFTING WORLD WITH THE SEED SISTAS at 4pm
CLIMATE JUSTICE IS A DISTRACTION FROM RACIAL JUSTICE - AFRICAN HERITAGE HORTICULTURALISM - with Sandra Salazar, Dre Ferdinand and Valerie from Coco Collective at 6pm
FRIDAY 7TH JANUARY
CULTIVATING JUSTICE WORKSHOP at 9am
WHY IS CONNECTING URBAN AND RURAL FOOD SYSTEMS IMPORTANT FOR A JUST TRANSITION? - Kennedy Walker, Sinead Fenton and Kim Graham explore the importance of an interconnected food movement at 11am
SHMITA: A SESSION ON JEWISH FARMING & LAND JUSTICE - Our friends and allies at Miknafhaaretz share stories, questions and feedback from their land justice retreat earlier this year at 2pm
Free Siyanda Fundraiser
Siyanda Mngaza, is a young 22-year-old black woman from Caerphilly, South Wales formerly a HR officer for South Wales Fire Service. Aged 20 Siyanda was the victim of a vicious racist attack that took place on the 25th May 2019 at a camping site in Brecon, Wales. Following in the tradition and tragic history of institutional racist policing responses to racist attacks, that sees victims arrested instead of perpetrators Siyanda was charged with GBH with intent by Dyfed Powys Police. After an appalling biased police investigation and many evidential flaws and errors, Siyanda was eventually convicted and unbelievably jailed for four and a half years.
Please donate to her justice fund here