On December 1st, CFF partnered with Engage New York and Neighborhood Funders Group to host an event titled, For Us, By Us Farm-Based Education: Land, Language, and Liberation.
The session brought together three farm-based education programs in New York State that are all rooted in culture and community, and designed specifically to serve the population that its instructors and organization are representative of: the Akwesasne Mohawk community for Akwesasne Freedom School; low-income BIPOC communities for Farm School NYC; and the queer community for Rock Steady Farm.
One of the goals of this program was to try and replicate or evoke many of the same principles and approaches that these organizations utilize in their own education programs. As a result, this event looked and felt different than many other briefings and offerings hosted by CFF.
We began with a traditional opening and welcome by Elvera Sargent of the Akwesasne Freedom School, done first in the native Mohawk language and then translated to English. Our speakers then took on facilitation of the meeting and offered an icebreaker exercise followed by short introductions and “origin stories” of each organization, as well as introductions of each speaker as told via an object meaningful to them that they shared with the group.
From there, we moved to a free flowing conversation between our six speakers that reflected on the meaning and use of land, language, and culture in each of their programs. The similarity of motivations, principles, and obstacles between three fairly divergent programs was both meaningful and uplifting.
The speakers were:
- Elvera Sargent, Akwesasne Freedom School
- Frances A. Pérez-Rodríguez, Farm School NYC
- Onika Abraham, Farm School NYC
- Amara Ullauri, Rock Steady Farm
- Maggie Cheney, Rock Steady Farm
- D Rooney, Rock Steady Farm
A recording of the session is shared below. You can use the following time markers to jump to different sections.
- Start – Welcome and intro by Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director
- 3:00 – Opening by Elvera Sargent
- 4:30 – Icebreaker & wordcloud with Amara Ullauri
- 9:30 – Organizational intros
- 24:45 – Speakers introductions and personal objects
- 38:50 – Group discussion: land, language, & culture
- 1:09:05 – Q&A
- 1:23:05 – Closing exercise