The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund and The Institute for Economic and Racial Equity at Brandeis University announced a partnership (January 2022). Our organizations will communicate with Black farmers and their descendants across the nation to better understand the impact of the Black farmer lawsuits, Pigford v. Glickman and In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation. This project will be the first nationwide effort to understand these historic cases' impact on farmers and their families.

We are investigating the experiences of Pigford claimants during and after the case with an eye toward policy and narrative today. Multiple legislative attempts have been made to foster equity in agriculture, including the Justice for Black Farmers Act and Section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan – Emergency Debt Relief for Farmers and Ranchers of Color. This research focused on the experiences and voices of Black farmers will lend clarity and urgency to the problems these policies are meant to address. Beyond agricultural policy, our teams believe that the Pigford cases offer insight into policies around cash transfers and reparations and how harmful narratives affect marginalized communities

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