Abstract

Homecoming: the story of African-American farmers / Eli, Quinn.

"With journalist Quinn Eli, filmmaker Charlene Gilbert embarks on a search for her own family's story and uncovers the larger, untold history of African-American farmers. A companion book to the PBS documentary, Homecoming traces black ownership of land from the time of Reconstruction, when the failed promise of "forty acres and a mule" inspired so many black farmers to seek land of their own, to the recent Supreme Court decision to grant them restitution from the federal government for racist banking practices. As black farmers struggle to survive today, Homecoming pays tribute not only to the devastating losses they have suffered throughout the century but also to their enduring legacy of hope. A combination of personal memory and historical storytelling, Homecoming "celebrates the heroism and nobility of black farmers and provides clear evidence of the need for land reform in the United States" (Barbara Neely, author of Blanche Passes Go)."--Jacket.