n New! July 24, 2008 - Re-opening of the Pigford Case. So, wondering if you qualify? Read this note below.

Congress finally passed the 2007 Farm Bill in 2008. One component to it is an amendment that will allow more than 60 thousand LATE CLAIMS to the now historic PIGFORD VS USDA CLASS ACTION. However, many people are under the impression that the law suit has been reopened. BFAA makes it very clear that the law suit is not re-opened for new claims. Hopefully people are not being taken in by those who would mislead them.

From what we here at BFFA understand, here is how the new legislation works:

You must have a letter from the Arbitrator saying that you were denied because your claim was late. If you have lost your letter, then the Monitor’s Office (1-877-924-7483) will have a Tracking Number for you. The Monitor’s Office is open Monday - Friday. Even if you cannot find your letter, if you truly have a late claim, your name will be there.

Then you will need to get an attorney. What congress has done only allows for you to see if you qualify as a Pigford Claimant. You will still need to prove that you or your relative was discriminated against.

If you need an attorney, we can suggest that you contact the Land Loss Prevention Project (LLPP) in North Carolina at 1-800-672-5839 or you contact Chestnut and Sanders at 1-866-492-6200 or 334-975-9264 in Alabama.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the BFAA office at 252-826-2800.

Hopefully everyone is aware that BFAA is a volunteer organization and any contributions are gladly accepted in order that we might be able to keep the organization going. There is no paid staff.

 

n June 3, 2008 - CAUTION - Beware of attornies requesting money for you to join the re-opening of the Pigford Case. Here is a letter from BFAA President Gary Grant with useful information.

Dear Pigford Claimant:

FINALLY A DECISION!!!! Congress has passed a bill that will allow those who filed late for the Pigford Class Action, Black farmers law suit, to seek damages. One drawback to this congressional action is that there is a $100 million cap to pay the more than 60,000 claims. BFAA is working with Attorney Rose Sanders to have the cap lifted, but cannot promise anything. At any rate, if you have a claim in, have a denial letter and a tracking number, you will be allowed to file a lawsuit or participate in a class action lawsuit to pursue your claim. You will need good legal council, and BFAA can with good conscience recommend the firm of CHESTNUT, SANDERS, SANDERS, PETTAWAY & CAMPBELL, L.L.C as one such firm. You can reach this firm at 1-866-492-6200 (toll free).

In the past Pigford case, attorney fees were paid by the government. But the new legislation does not a re-open the old Pigford case. Therefore, all of the terms are not clear, but it looks as if the claimant will have to pay attorney fees.

If you are looking for a lawyer and or legal firm to represent you in this matter, please call Rose Sanders at your earliest convenience. Sanders has assured BFAA that if attorney fees must be paid by the claimant their Firm's will be reasonable.

For the past ten years, this firm has served thousands of farmers honestly and respectfully.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact the BFAA office at

252-826-2800 or call the law firm at 1-866-492-6200.

Yours for the Survival of Black Farmers,

Gary R. Grant, President

n March 4, 2008 - URGENT! - Help secure justice for the Grant family. This family continues to be attacked by USDA and Department of Justice. You can help by writing President Bush to demand that he intervene to preserve justice for this hardworking farm family. Here is a letter for you to sign and send.

Click here to open a pdf of the letter below. Print, sign, and send or fax to President Bush.

Date: ________________ Fax:(202) 456-2461

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to express my concern about a case of racial harassment and discrimination facing the family of one of our prominent black national leaders. Recently U.S. Marshals delivered a Writ of Execution regarding foreclosure proceedings to Gary Grant and the other heirs of Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant in the New Deal Resettlement Community of Tillery, NC. While never denying their responsibilities for any and all debts that they incurred, the Grants have proven that they were racially discriminated against by local USDA offices. This family's Civil Rights complaints against the USDA and its former agency Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) have been proven time and time again. According to what I have discovered, even this Writ is the result of discriminatory practices by the USDA and its agent(s) on loans made to the Grants. The effect of this discrimination is that the family has accrued additional debt on loans made over 20 years ago. That this family has led Blacks in North Carolina and their community and refused to accept second-class treatment has effectively made them a target of the local agricultural power structure. In numerous ways they have not received the same consideration nor flexible assistance offered their white counterparts in the county.

As you are aware, farming is an inherently risky and capital intensive enterprise. The bulk of the debt in question for the Grants was acquired during the early 1970s and persisted due to a series of “declared disastrous” years. By aggressively pursuing the family’s debt, the local agricultural structure hoped to send a clear message to the other Blacks in the community that “they should stay in their place.” Similar small debts were easily dealt with among white farmers in the county. Mr. Grant, who was a successful farmer when he came to the former FmHA at USDA for loans, was placed on supervised loans; made loans at higher interest rates than white farmers all around him; and he, like other Black farmers, received his loans late. That this family has been in a struggle with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for more than 20 years over such a relatively small sum, is a signal that something has gone awry in the process for citizens to settle Civil Rights Complaints with the department.

I further understand that USDA, in 1996, failed to live up to a Final Judgment that covered four years of USDA discrimination against Mr. and Mrs. Grant. This is especially troubling because the document was signed by all parties, including the USDA’s Office of Civil Rights. Perhaps if this document had been executed as agreed, the Grant children would not be facing the current Writ of Execution. The USDA reneged on this document of trust just as it has with many such signed agreements involving others. Such an obvious disregard for the well-being of potentially successful small family farmers is shameful for the government offices President Lincoln originally called “the people's department.”

I did not get to know the late Mr. & Mrs. Grant, but I do know their heirs. I know that this family is a family of leaders. They are hard working, tax paying citizens who love justice and equality. Sadly, representatives of our government have dragged them through this torture and hardship because they refused to accept second-class treatment and worked to make their community a better place. In addition to being the first Black president of the Roanoke Electric Cooperative, the first Black on the North Carolina Rural Electric Cooperative Board, Superintendent of his church’s Sunday School and a church trustee, he was also an entrepreneur and served as a past-President of the Lower Halifax County NAACP. Like all of the previous NAACP leaders from the Tillery Resettlement Farms Community, Matthew Grant had his land and livelihood threatened. Although deceased, he is the only past president to still have his land, though it is under attack.

Mr. President, you have the power and influence to end this family’s struggle against racism and bigotry. You can cause these actions and any other action against this family to cease and desist. You, as the President of the United States, have the opportunity and duty to rectify the mistakes and/or oversights made by departments under your direct control and other branches of government, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ). So you are now being asked, at a time when the 2007 Farm Bill is in “Committee” - which might provide a modest sum of money for the cause of the “Socially Disadvantage” farmer - to use your power in these matters related to the Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant Family and send a clear and present signal to the DOJ, USDA and its agent FSA that you will not tolerate the mistreatment of our citizens. Your immediate attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,

Name
Address
City, State, Zip

Phone:  

n Feb. 15-17, 2008 - “10 Years After Pigford: Moving Forward” - 10th Annual Black Land Loss Summit, Tillery and Whitakers, NC

Proposed Agenda

Registration

Directions to Franklinton Center

n Researcher finds evidence of continued discrimination toward black farmers in Terrell County, Georgia. Read more by clicking here.

n Feb. 16-18, 2007 - “Returning Black Farmers to the Land: A Gathering of Minds to Develop a New Strategy” - 9th Annual Black Land Loss Summit, Tillery and Whitakers, NC

Proposed Agenda

n 9/28/06 -Virginia Senator Allen introduces bill to help black farmers.

Bill would allow black farmers left out of Pigford to file claims.

n Urgent! North Carolina Call to Action

If we are ever going to change the ills at USDA, we must find people who will come forth and say what is happening to them. So please, if you fit any of the following categories contact the BFAA office.

ONLY NORTH CAROLINA CASES AT THIS TIME.

We are currently looking for:

1. Women who have made loans or attempted to make loans at USDA

2. Women who signed loan agreements at USDA with their husbands

3. Looking for male or females who have been denied loans since 1997 at USDA

4. Looking primarily in North Carolina

n Support BFAA

New! Purchase BFAA T-Shirts and Caps

New! John Ficara and Juan William's Photographic Essay of Black Farmers

New! Children's Books by Black Farmer, V. J. Switzer

n Rally in Washington

Wednesday April 26, 2006

Washington, D.C.

National Black Farmers Unity Rally and

March for Justice

Click here for flyer

Click Here to Give Financial Support

n March 31, 2006 - Courts Continue to Deny Farmers of Color and Women

n Professor Hinson Visits Tillery

Read About Professor Hinson's Visit

n 7th Annual National Black Land Loss Summit

The Nation Magazine Reports on Summit

 

"Land Up Close and Personal: Basis for Development"

See Land Loss Summit link for information.

n Jan 2005 - 

BFAA Welcomes Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

Judge Paul L. Friedman rejects call to reopen Pigford.

n Dec 2004 - Probe Prompts Review of National Black Farmers Case.

n Nov 2004 - Judiciary Committee hearing on Black Farmers Case

BFAA President Gary R. Grant testimony to Judiciary Committee.

Congressman Steve Chabot testifies that African-American farmers'  constitutional rights are not safeguarded.

NOTE: THIS ORGANIZATION IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE GROUP OUT OF COVINGTON, TN.

Disclaimer posted by Gary R. Grant, BFAA President.