When Marginalized Communities Organize & Lead Themselves, Liberation Farms

<p><em>"Liberation Farms is food justice in action. It is a demonstration of the success that is possible when marginalized communities have the opportunity to organize and lead themselves."</em></p> <p>Today, we hear from Lana and Muhidin, the farm manager and executive director respectively, of Liberation Farms in Lewiston, Maine. Liberation farms is a 200+ acre farm in the <a href= "https://somalibantumaine.org/little-jubba-central-maine-agrarian-commons/"> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Little Jubba Agrarian Commons</strong></span></a>. Sound familiar? This was one of the first farms moved into the agrarian commons framework by the <a href= "https://www.agrariantrust.org"><span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Agrarian Trust</strong></span></a> (listen to my conversation with them <a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/77fSlqfD2xOAtxZzPdD7cr?si=a2a5e2e3d57d4b70"> <span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><strong>here</strong></span></a>).</p> <p>Lana and Muhidin tell us how the farm and commons began, how the land is used to meet the personal, economic, and cultural needs of the Somali Bantu community, the ways in which the farmers self-organize into iskashito groups, a little about access to farmland in Somalia, and how they are working to bridge the agricultural divide between Somalia and the US as well as current and future generations of Somali Bantu farmers.</p> <p><a href= "https://www.instagram.com/somalibantumaine/"><span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Follow Liberation Farms on Instagram</strong></span></a></p> <p>Check out their <a href= "https://somalibantumaine.org/liberation-farms/"><span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><strong>very informative website</strong></span></a> & <a href= "https://somalibantumaine.org/donate/"><span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><strong>contribute to Liberation Farms</strong></span></a></p> <p><em>Mentioned in the show...</em></p> <p><a href= "https://somalibantumaine.org/somali-bantu-background/"><span style="