Trauma Informed Extension for Black Land-Based Healing

Keywords: Agricultural extension, racial trauma, racial healing
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Historically, the relationship between the Federal Extension Service (FES) and Black Americans was inequitable. Extension programs were segregated, with Black-led programs receiving less funding and fewer services (Whayne, 1998). Inadequate and inequitable federal support did little to increase Black participation in the agriculture industry. Reduced services and the absence of crop choice dictated by sharecropping, afforded Black American farmers fewer opportunities to engage with agricultural production and generate a sustainable income.

Today, efforts have been made to establish a more inclusive approach to agricultural support and participation through the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service (CES) (Pardello & Michaels, 2020). However, the long-term consequences of white supremacy and its effects on Black American participation in agriculture still linger. Efforts to establish a partnership between communities and Extension services are needed to address the effects of lost agricultural knowledge and skills. Positive interactions with Extension agents can increase farmer participation in federal programs (Westbrook, 2010).

Historically and in recent years, extension efforts still do not engage with the race based trauma that exists in Black American land relations. Leary’s Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome points to the generational legacy of the trauma of slavery and its resulting institutions (2005). This work proposes a trauma-informed training and extension checklist to assist in rebuilding the Black community’s trust in agricultural extension to allow the community and extension to move forward working toward greater agricultural equity and healing for Black farmers.