DRAFT
HISTORY THROUGH THE LENS OF RACIALIZED LAND-BASED OPPRESSION History informs the state and stories of urban agriculture in Philadelphia today. While this plan focuses on present and future urban agriculture, it is critical to provide a historical overview as context, grounding the plan in past events, policies, and political movements that have been at work in this nation and this city. The following timeline offers relevant historical context as it relates to people, land, and the practices of growing food in Philadelphia. It also highlights the connections between specific moments in time and racialized land-based oppression.
Methods of Racialized Land-Based Oppression
Collective Action & Self Determination
Racialized land-based oppression primarily happens in four ways. The following methods demonstrate that racism underpins the history of the United States.
Yet throughout history, BIPOC communities have relied, provided, and cared for themselves through agriculture, organizing solutions on the ground to resist the compounding methods of land-based oppression. These solutions often arise from cooperative strategies, such as communities pooling resources, sharing power, and utilizing traditional and cultural practices to survive colonial violence and erasure.
FROM THE ROOT: AN INTRODUCTION
> Displacement of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC): The removal or displacement of peoples from their ancestral homes and/ or sanctuary communities through forced migration, colonization, and gentrification. > Commodification of Land: Capitalism and values change human relationships with the land, which results in the privatization and individual ownership of land. Land is seen as non-living, exploitable, and a means for building private wealth. > Exploitation and Erasure: BIPOC communities have experienced labor exploitation and cultural appropriation in the context of land. The exploitation of BIPOC labor upholds colonial power over time while keeping these communities at a disadvantage. > Exclusionary Institutions: Historically white institutions, both private and public, prioritize white communities, offer resources and opportunity to compound generational wealth and power and systematically exclude BIPOC communities.
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FIGURE 9. Methods
PHILADELPHIA PARKS & RECREATION
This plan, grounded in values of racial and economic justice, sets the stage to address landbased oppression and support the continuation of collective action by Philadelphia’s urban agriculture community.
of Racialized Land-Based Oppression
