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Pathways to reparations: land and healing through food justice

Jessica L. Gilbert https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3603-5144 [email protected] and Rebekah A. WilliamsView all authors and affiliations

Volume 13, Issue 3

https://doi.org/10.1177/1942778620951936

Abstract
References
Biographies

Abstract

While mainstream efforts for reparations center financial compensation via legislation and litigation, social movements expand this conceptualization in order to address critical and yet often overlooked components of reparations. Equitable access to land and opportunities to heal from intergenerational trauma are two of these reparations demands that social movements prioritize. However, there is a dearth of scholarly literature exploring the role and impact of social movements on reparations. Therefore, we seek to develop this important conversation. In doing so, we elucidate the ways in which these two foci of reparations overlap with those of other social movements; food justice initiatives, in particular, also emphasize the connections between racial justice, land justice, and healing. We thus synthesize social movement, food justice, and reparations literatures to examine the overlaps between the goals of food justice initiatives and social movements for reparations. Using two case studies, Tierra Negra and Soul Fire Farm, we demonstrate the ways in which food justice initiatives support social movements for reparations. Contextualizing our analysis within reflections on personal experiences, we argue that through their efforts to transform systems of oppression, food justice initiatives provide an alternative pathway to achieving reparations.

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Biographies

Jessica L. Gilbert is a PhD candidate in the Geography Department at the University at Buffalo and a research associate at the Partnership for the Public Good in Buffalo, New York. Through these two roles, she collaborates with grassroots coalitions to understand the intersections between food justice initiatives, racial justice, and a just transition.

Rebekah A. Williams is an organizer, facilitator, and co-founder of Food for the Spirit, a food systems organization based in Western New York. Rebekah is also employed as a Community Organizer at Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) in Buffalo NY. In her work, Rebekah actively supports the development of democratic community-based food systems and raises awareness about intersectionalities of issues such as race, economy, and ecological justice. Rebekah has a degree in Social Structure, Theory and Change, and has completed training with national organizations: HEAL Food Alliance, Movement Generation, North American Students of Cooperation, and Training for Change.

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