Civil Rights Secretary from U.S. Agriculture Department to speak at 124th National Black Business Conference after settling with black farmers.
By Walter Pritchard
Penny Brown Reynolds, Ph.D., J.D., U. S. Department of Agriculture, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights will address the 124th National Black Business Conference following a major discrimination settlement with African American farmers.
Reynolds’s address will be Saturday, August 24 at 1:00 p.m. at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel. The conference kicks off this Wednesday, August 21, and runs through Saturday.
The conference’s main organizers, Dr. Kenneth Harris, President, of the National Black Business League, Charles DeBow, President of, the Black Chamber of Commerce, and Johnny Ford, Founder/President/CEO, of the World Conference of Mayors are pleased that the Deputy Assistant Secretary is coming to the conference.
The secretary’s visit comes on the heels of the recent $2.2 Billion settlement that has been made available to the Black Farmers and others who have been discriminated against and whose civil rights have been violated over the years.
“We are proud to see a distinguished African American Woman and judge in this important position who we are confident will make every effort to make sure in the future civil rights of Black farmers are not violated,” said Ford, adding the money has been appropriated.
The conference has approximately 1400 registered participants. Some of the participants are probably descendants of black farmers who the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has violated in the past, Ford added.
Dr. Brown Reynolds serves as one of the nation’s preeminent civil rights scholars and experts bringing 30 years of transformative leadership experience in civil rights, law, executive management, as well as higher education and organizational change management.
In a press statement posted on the National Black Farmers Association website, the association’s president, John Boyd, called the settlement “a huge win and historic payout for discrimination in farm lending.”
According to the NBFA statement, approximately 43,000 farmers will each receive payouts of up to $500,000, with the average award being $82,000. These funds are meant to provide financial assistance to farmers who have experienced racial and other forms of discrimination from the USDA prior to 2021.
The NBFA is a non-profit organization representing African American farmers and their families in the United States. As an association, it serves tens of thousands of members nationwide.
NBFA’s education and advocacy efforts have been focused on civil rights, land retention, access to public and private loans, education and agricultural training, and rural economic development for Black and other small farmers.
“This victory marks a significant step towards justice for Black farmers, who have long been fighting against systematic discrimination in the farming industry,” the press statement reads.
The NBFA, founded by Boyd 40 years ago, has been at the forefront of this fight and has led the way in advocating for change.
“No matter how it is sliced, the $2.2 billion in payouts is historic,” said Boyd, in the press statement. “In 1999, Black farmers received a $1 billion payout. In 2013, a $1.25 billion payment was made in a late filers’ lawsuit settlement.”
The 124th National Black Business Conference will feature hundreds of Black-owned businesses, professionals, and elected officials from around the globe, who are set to converge at the conference will serve as a dynamic platform for networking, knowledge-sharing, and forging strategic partnerships with city, state, national, federal, and global resources, and leadership.
The theme for the conference is “We Are Together.”
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