The new sisterhood of Black female

homesteaders
By Shanna B. Tiayon, Narratively, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.30.20
Word Count 1,651
Level 930L

Image 1. Jacqueline Smith, known as Jackie, holding some of the produce from her garden in Chicago, 2016. Photo courtesy of Jacqueline
Smith. Illustration by Narratively.

One of the first official uses of the term "homesteading" was in 1862. That year, President
Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. It was intended to encourage western expansion and
United States agricultural development. For Black Americans, however, the idea of subsistence
agriculture predates the Homestead Act. Subsistence agriculture is the practice of growing enough
food for the survival of only a small community, like a family. This is the opposite of commercial
agriculture — farming done at a large scale, usually for profit.

In the 19th century, homesteading helped some enslaved people create a life for themselves. They
grew supplemental food and even made needed tools and home goods from the yield. This same
knowledge aided Black families during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and beyond.

In recent years, self-sufficient homesteading has reappeared in the United States. However, the
face of these movements has been overwhelmingly white.

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Meanwhile, Black people, and Black women in particular, have been portrayed as the total
opposite of homesteading values. They are stereotyped as overly reliant on public assistance and
unwilling to work. Perhaps the most famous example of this stereotyping was done by former
President Ronald Reagan's racialized "welfare queen" remarks. They are stereotyped as not
hardworking and dependent on welfare. They also suffer from many of our nation's worst health
outcomes. Doctors are now acknowledging how much trauma — deeply distressing and disturbing
experiences — impacts Black women's physical health.

The Impact Of Trauma And A Need For Self-sufficiency

Chantel Johnson is a Black woman who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Her upbringing was difficult
due to her family's low income and the violence of her surroundings. Between 2012 and 2014, her
middle brother and younger brother were each shot several times. Her younger brother eventually
died from complications 15 months after the shooting.

She struggled in university, too, because she felt

judged by other students. They came from different
backgrounds and were different from her. Eventually
Johnson learned to code-switch. This is the practice of
alternating between ways of speaking and behaving
based on the surroundings.

Despite the challenges, Johnson earned a bachelor's

and master's degree and later started a research job in
North Carolina. However, the impact of past trauma
remained. These experiences created a rage against
"the system" in Johnson. She was angry about
systemic racism and poverty and the laws, policies and institutions that uphold it.

"I've done everything right — star child, went to college, went to Africa for a few months, did
AmeriCorps, I volunteered, I got this job ... I don't understand why this isn't enough and my
brothers are being shot," she says.

This revelation, four months prior to discovering Bear Creek, marked the beginning of Johnson's
homesteading journey. In her mind, self-sufficiency was the only option. The system was rigged,
and it wasn't going to take care of her.

In May 2016, Johnson got her first taste of homesteading in Bear Creek, North Carolina. She was
immediately drawn to the space and gave up her two-bedroom townhouse in Durham, North
Carolina to move there. Her new home was small and shared, and there was no electricity or
plumbing.

The transition was challenging. Johnson was initially scared of the chickens she had to put away in
coops every night. She relied on the assistance of a 5-year-old on the homestead for help.

The first winter at Bear Creek was difficult. Johnson found herself in the dead of winter, cold in
the tiny house. Everyone else was away, so she was alone and crying because she couldn't light the
wood-burning stove.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

"I started to regret my decision," Johnson remembers. Thankfully her cell phone still worked, so
she found a YouTube video that walked her through lighting such a stove. Figuring out how to do it
convinced her that maybe she could make it in this way of life — that she could bet on herself to
succeed in spite of the odds.

A Way To Overcome Trauma

For Aja Yasir, growing food was always a normal way

of life. Her parents were a part of the Second Great
Migration. This was the period from 1940 to 1970
when millions of Black people migrated from the
South to Northern states. Her parents brought the
practice of subsistence agriculture with them. They
purchased a vacant lot next to their home in the South
Side of Chicago to establish a home garden.

At first, Yasir was not interested in growing her own

food. Her interest came later in life, after a period in
Venezuela, where she lived in an agricultural
community.

Yasir has also had many difficult life experiences. One occurred in January 2016, when her 3-
week-old daughter unexpectedly died. That event, combined with years of other unresolved
traumas, led to many mental health challenges.

A couple of months after the death of her daughter, Yasir and her husband considered moving to
Gary, Indiana. It was not a perfect town, though. Gary had its share of problems, including many
abandoned homes and only a few grocery stores.

Yasir and her husband eventually found a house in a less depressed part of Gary and decided to
purchase it. Yasir had one condition for moving into the house: she needed a garden. She got to
work shortly after they moved in.

This, however, turned into a public battle with the city of Gary. The city sent citations. They
claimed the wood chips in Yasir's front yard were debris that was causing environmental problems
in the neighborhood. "I didn't realize that growing food was so abnormal until moving to Gary,"
Yasir recalls.

Yasir sought the support of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, signing up with them as a
homesteader. They sent a lawyer to represent her case against the city, and Yasir won.

Today, Yasir's garden grows vegetables and herbs. In the backyard of her house, she has a
prosperous orchard. During the growing season, the garden provides 95 percent of the herbs and
100 percent of the leafy greens her family eats.

Homesteading For Physical Health

Johnson and Yasir were drawn to homesteading because of mental health needs. For Jacqueline
Smith, who goes by Jackie, it was about her physical health.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

Smith was born and raised on the South Side of
Chicago. At the age of 9, she was diagnosed with Type
1 diabetes. Because of the disease, Smith's childhood
was marked by strict dietary restrictions, daily insulin
shots and frequent visits to the doctor.

As a teenager, she attended Chicago High School for

Agricultural Sciences. At first, Smith wasn't really
interested in agriculture, but by the time she
graduated, Smith had developed a true passion. This
led to a a full scholarship at a university where she
pursued a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics.

In
college,
her
interest
in

agriculture was frequently questioned. Her classmates, largely white and male, often assumed
Smith was an African-American studies major. They couldn't understand why a Black woman
wanted to learn about agriculture.

While studying for her undergraduate degree, Smith was diagnosed with a second chronic illness.
Some years after she graduated, the stress of her illnesses soon sent her into a three-day coma.
When she awoke from the coma in the hospital, she knew she had to make a change. She decided
to leave her corporate job.

In 2018, she started an agricultural consulting business. Through her business, Smith helps clients
design, plan and maintain their own gardens.

Today, Smith lives in the far South Side of Chicago. She designs her homesteading activities to
support her dietary and health needs. During the growing season, Smith estimates that she can
produce approximately 80 percent of the food she eats. During the 2019 polar vortex, Smith didn't

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.

go to the grocery store for two months. She had enough food stored from her garden that she had
either frozen or canned herself.

Homesteading with two chronic illnesses is challenging for Smith. When her illnesses flare up, it
can halt her productivity for days at a time. She's had to learn to rely on fellow farming friends to
step in during these times to help. By doing this she's built a community that supports her.

Futures In Homesteading

Chantel Johnson has since moved on from Bear Creek, North Carolina. She doesn't own her own
homestead plot, and that has been a challenge. In spite of this, Johnson has been able to expand
her operations. Presently, Johnson resides on a farm in Chatham County, North Carolina. She
currently has 500 chickens she raises for meat. She plans to raise 125 turkeys for the holidays. She
sells her sustainably raised meat at local farmers markets or by direct order to customers.

Johnson says the first part of her homesteading

journey was about survival. She had to prove that she
could survive in this lifestyle. She is determined to
make the second half of her journey about thriving.
It's a sentiment shared by Yasir and Smith as well —
the intention not just to survive, but thrive.

Beyond this shared intention, these women's stories

are connected in their origins: experiences with
trauma as Black women in the U.S. and a decision to
return to the land for healing. They are sisters of the
soil, and victors of their destiny.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.