![]() ![]() “Representation matters,” he says.” We are just connecting to what our ancestors have already done. If you don’t see it, you don’t think it’s possible.” Having Black people in the space matters. Aric Black, ©Pickens County beekeepers Association. The tradition and practices of beekeeping in the US need an overhaul to move beyond white supremacist frameworks.Īs for Jackson, he says beekeeping “is open to all races and backgrounds. A list of local beekeeper associations and their contact information is available at Aric Black, a Pickens county beekeeper, introducing a swarm to a new home. ![]() When we say #savethebees we’re actually saying save industrial agriculture and commercial pollination that uses bees as a tool rather than learning from bees as an ally. They Keep Bees pointed out that beekeeping, as we currently know it is a method “founded by colonizers and used to propagate industrial agriculture. Losing land is a contributor to the racial wealth gap in this country.īut is there racism in beekeeping? In 2020, the Facebook page for “They Keep Bees,” a Massachusetts-based farm, posted that “Beekeeping, like most agriculture in the US, is inherently racist.” Black farmers lost an estimated $326 billion worth of acreage during the 20th century. Not many Black people own farmland in the United States. But land ownership and beekeeping in Black communities dwindled over time.įor Kamal Bell, the founder of Sankofa Farms, owning land and working with bees on that land has been a way to heal from racial trauma. Most people think beekeeping is a white thing. But Black beekeepers say working with pollinators isn’t only for white people. It is the longest-running farming conference in the United States. My knowledge of bees and beekeepers prior to meeting Carole Wright was pretty abysmal. By Maya Richard-Craven Even though there are about 100,000 beekeepers in the United States, we rarely see Black folks as the face of beekeeping. ![]() yup, I had hives pollinating where a bunch of h2bs from south america worked, gave them smokers and other equipment, often wondered how they got the stuff on the plane. A Connection to FarmingĪlong with nurturing bees, the Farmer’s Conference also started in Tuskegee in 1892. Im sure there are hundreds/thousands of black beekeepers around the world, not that it matters. Last year, he found out that his great-grandfather was a beekeeper in Greenville, South Carolina. It turns out Jackson’s family actually has a history of beekeeping. Instructors included prominent Black folks like George Washington Carver, who heavily advocated for beekeeping education for Black farmers. The project goes on to note that “The enslaved peoples of Africa were the force behind most of the agriculture in what would become America” - meaning that “enslaved Africans were beekeepers in North America is self evident.”Īt the turn of the century, Tuskegee University added beekeeping to its curriculum. The project explained that what is referred to as the ‘European’ Honey Bee was actually “brought to this continent by way of the Virginian colony in 1622, shortly after the first enslaved African peoples arrived in Virginia in 1619.” ![]()
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