Africonnections: Seeds of memory, roots of survival

Abstract

First paragraphs:

Through Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture, Michael Carter Jr. is building a bridge that many Black, African, and African American farmers, agriculturists, and future genera­tions have long been waiting for—a bridge that makes it possible to see ourselves reflected in agri­cultural spaces. Myself included. This is not easy work. With the records of those kidnapped and enslaved in the Americas missing, fragmented, or deliberately erased, the work of reconnecting begins with the seeds that traveled here through the hands and knowledge of the enslaved.

The plants that grow in American soil tell a story of violence, but they also tell a story of resili­ence, fortitude, and deep agronomic knowledge. My ancestors, Carter Jr.’s ancestors, and the ances­tors of countless Black Americans came here against their will and endured unimaginable suffer­ing. Yet, through narratives like Carter Jr.’s, their stories live again. They reveal how the knowledge and labor of enslaved Africans shaped American agriculture, even as colonizers refused to acknowledge the depth of their expertise or the fullness of their humanity. . . .