Boyd, John Jr.
1965- · Contribution: 1995
Farmer & Policy Advocate
Founded the National Black Farmers Association; agricultural policy advocacy
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1965
- Active since
- 1995
- Category
- Agriculture & Food
- Best known for
- Founded National Black Farmers AssociationUSDA discrimination reformFarm-lending settlements
Impact on the world
Boyd built a national organization that forced the federal government to confront decades of discrimination against Black farmers. His advocacy translated individual grievances into structural policy change and compensation.
An alternative history
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Sources
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Related visionaries
Pigford, Timothy
20th century-
Lead plaintiff in Pigford v. Glickman, the 1999 class action settlement against the USDA that became, at the time, the largest civil rights settlement in American history, ultimately paying or crediting nearly $1 billion to Black farmers discriminated against in federal farm lending
Sherrod, Shirley (Miller)
1947-
Co-founded New Communities, Inc. in 1969, the first formal community land trust in the United States and, at 6,000 acres, one of the largest Black-owned tracts of land in the country; became a central figure in the Pigford v. Glickman settlement, already profiled in this collection, and was forced to resign a federal post in 2010 after a selectively edited video clip falsely portrayed her as admitting racial bias, before officials reviewed the full speech and publicly apologized
Paige, Ralph McDaniel
1943-2018
Led the Federation of Southern Cooperatives for 46 years, personally obtaining the Freedom of Information Act documents that built the legal foundation for Pigford v. Glickman, already profiled in this collection; grew the organization from 22 to 75 cooperatives while building 18 community credit unions
Mitchell, John W.
unknown
Agricultural extension organizing; co-founded bulk-purchasing farm credit union