"That led to the decision to stay and work. I can't tell you that I knew right away what I would do, but I knew that I was staying to do whatever I had to do. My grandfather...had a fifth-grade education, but owning land meant, as much as we could as Black people, the opportunity to try to live a better life."
"We as Black people knew the land. We knew how to make the land profitable for others and needed to be able to do that for ourselves. We saw the need to own land. I often say to people that, coming out of slavery, our people knew two things were important: buying land and getting an education. They did an excellent job of both, through some of the worst odds you could think of."
She chose to remain in the South after her father's murder and committed to work addressing injustice. She initially wanted to leave because of Jim Crow and oppressive local authority in Baker County. The decision followed spiritual struggle and a resolve to act rather than depart. Family history emphasized land ownership and education as routes to better lives. Her grandfather, despite limited schooling, maintained land ownership. Black communities prioritized buying land and obtaining education after slavery to secure economic stability. Family experiences of attempted dispossession underscore threats to Black land ownership.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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