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Braided Legacies, Sovereign Futures
January 22, 2021 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
We welcomed in the new year with a grief-transformation ceremony, led by two holders of tremendous visionary work being done to address reparations, rematriation, and sovereignty on land. We are so grateful to have been held in that space by Stephanie Morningstar and Leah Penniman! Listen to the recording here.
Carrying on the legacy of our ancestral grandmothers, who braided seeds in their hair before boarding transatlantic slave ships, believing against odds in a future of sovereignty on land.”
Leah Penniman, Farming While Black
Stephanie Morningstar (Oneida Nation, She/Her, They/Them) is an herbalist, soil and seed steward, scholar, student, and Earth Worker. Stephanie is dedicated to decolonizing and liberating minds, hearts, and land- one plant, person, ecosystem, and non-human being at a time. Stephanie is the Executive Director and Resources, Relationships, and Reciprocity Co-Director of the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust; grows medicines and food for her community at Sky World Apothecary & Farm; and teaches QTBIPOC about the wonders of plant medicine at Seed, Soil, + Spirit School.
MORE ABOUT STEPHANIE
Stephanie carries with her over a decade of community-driven systems change work in the healthcare, legal, and academic research spaces where she cut her teeth on speaking Truth to Power. Her work advancing sovereignty in the Healthcare, Child Welfare, and legal systems with and for Indigenous communities has resulted in mandating Indigenous Cultural Safety training to service providers; Indigenous Dispute Transformation frameworks; and meaningful and ethical Indigenous-driven research in climate change. She serves BIPOC land stewards and farmers in the Northeast as the Executive Director and Resources, Relationships, and Reciprocity Co-Director at the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust.
Leah Penniman (li/she/ya/elle) is a Black Kreyol farmer/peyizan, mother, soil nerd, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-Director and Farm Manager, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs – including farmer training for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system.
MORE ABOUT LEAH
Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. Leah trained at Many Hands Organic Farm, Farm School MA, and internationally with farmers in Ghana, Haiti, and Mexico. She also served as a high school biology and environmental science teacher for 17 years. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Grist 50, and James Beard Leadership Award, among others. Her book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land is a love song for the land and her people.
Braided Legacies, Sovereign Futures with Stephanie Morningstar and Leah Penniman took place on January 21, 2021, 12pmPT/3pmET.
