s.
Hilton is encouraging them to diversify, grow for niche markets, plant leguminous cover crops that replace nitrogen in the soil and practice traditional dryland farming methods to withstand drought – techniques that Hilton believes will support these small-scale, Black-owned operations into the future.
Robinson is thinking about the future, too. While no one in his family currently wants to sell the land, Robinson worries that the land is vulnerable if subsequent generations become more detached.
“Land is wealth, and it’s generational,” says Robinson. “But if you don’t understand that you have wealth, and if your mind sees the land as a negative because of our history with slavery, then you don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
He says he’s trying to “reprogram” his family’s thinking.
“To show them this land is not negative. That this is so positive,” he says. “This land will sustain your family for generations, even long after you’re gone.”
Debbie Weingarten is a freelance writer based in Tucson, Arizona and a 2019 finalist for the James Beard Award for Investigative Reporting. Follow her on Twitter at @cactuswrenwrite. Mike Kane is a Seattle-based freelance photographer and videographer. His photojournalism and video work from 2018 won awards from the National Federation of Press Women, Society for Features Journalism and Society of Professional Journalists. On Instagram, he is @kaneinane. Equal Voice is Marguerite Casey Foundation’s publication featuring stories of America’s families creating social change. With Equal Voice, we challenge how people think and talk about poverty in America. All original and contracted Equal Voice content – articles, photos and videos – can be reproduced for free, as long as proper credit and a link to our homepage are included.
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