box of resilience (csa)

csa:
commUNITY supported agriculture

the csa was a creation of ancestor booker t. whatley and all of his work and wisdom bestowed upon us to continue a legacy of small and regenerative farming, soil regeneration, biodiversity and more.

“...the clientele membership club is the lifeblood of the [farm]. It enables the farmer to plan production, anticipate demand, and, of course, have a guaranteed market. the farmer has to seek out people—city folks, mostly—to be members of the club. the annual membership fee, $25 per household, gives each of those families the privilege of coming to the farm and harvesting produce at approximately 60 percent of the supermarket price...one of these 25-acre farms should be able to support 1,000 member families, or around 5,000 people…[the farm] should be located within 40 miles of some metropolitan center; that's pretty much a prerequisite for setting up one of these farms…”

-booker t. whatley

the box of resilience program is one way we honor our ancestors and elders while continuing to center their legacies, wisdoms, and the ways they have always cared for each other despite all odds and intentional systematic state sanctioned violence.

in january of 1969 the black panther party launched a free breakfast for school children program at an episcopal church in oakland, ca. within weeks the program went from feeding a few kids to hundreds of children. the schools these children went to shared great reports of children being more present and engaged in school. there was no more falling asleep, crying, and experiencing cramps and other pains as this was the first time many of these children were able to have access to breakfast.

though this program had great health outcomes and built positive change for people of color, the fbi did not support or condone the idea of Black people healing from state sanctioned violence, police brutality, and systematic oppression via the love, reverence, and deep care of Black and Brown people.

fbi head j. edgar hoover hated this effort and the Black panther party and declared war on them. he called the program "potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities, and to neutralize the bpp and destroy what it stands for". he then gave the green light to law enforcement to destroy it. fbi agent's went door to door telling parents that the bpp would teach their children racism, that the food was filled with venereal diseases, he sanctioned law enforcement to go into the churches these programs were happening in places like baltimore and oakland where police officers broke into the churches, mashed up the food, and urinated on it. the wic program and many other white led initiatives also came to be as strategic efforts to dismantle bpp and make sure that credit for free breakfast programs would be attributed to white led organizations.

because of the radical actions of the Black panther party over 14.57 million children are able to access free school breakfast programs. we are deeply grateful for the incredible programs and offerings that have been created by Black people and we feel honored to be able to continue these legacies and highlight what this means for us and our people. our Box of resilience program is one of the ways that we center BIPOC joy, safety, nourishment, and resist these same systems of oppression that continue to perpetuate violence and harm on our people through food, police brutality, housing, and many other ways. this program is inspired by the work of many of our ancestors and is a culmination of the wisdoms and teachings passed down to us from ancestors like booker t. whatley, george washington carver, huey p. newton, fannie lou hamer, and more.