Sacred Resistance: Return

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History- more accurately called Herstory

In the 1910’s our great great great grandfather purchased his own 40+ acres of land in Mississippi for $0.25/ acre. In 1919, a portion of the land was purchased by great great grandmother “Mama Scrap” in 1919, and then passed down to our grandmother in 1978. 

In 2019, we launched phase 1 of the campaign, Sacred Resistance- Reclaim (Save the Land) exactly 100 years after the land passed to Mama Scrap, our family re-purchased and reclaimed our 5+ acre plot with the support of our community. 

As a child, Mama Rev. Regina would spend every summer in Mississippi, and Ree Belle would visit Mississippi when she became a child and dream of that land becoming a space where we could live, grow, and sustain. That dream is finally coming true. 

Vision

Our vision is to return to rituals and ancestral knowledge, reclaim a relationship with land in the South that was severed through servitude, rematriate the land in a way that respects Mother Earth, and provide a haven for retreat that promotes healing for black folx. 

Support Needed

We are currently in Phase 2 of this project, Sacred Resistance: Return (Stimulate the Land) which will be focused on the construction of a co-housing design retreat space, clearing the land for planting, and permaculture design for a future food forest.

Join us in returning to this land and beginning the steps of creating a retreat and refuge for black and indigenous folx, people of color, queer folx, and others who are oppressed and seeking healing liberation!

March 2022: Begin Land Clearing of 1 acre to house construction

June 2022: Construction Begins

Sept- November 2022: Permaculture Design Course and Research

March 2023: Food Forest Planting Begins

March 2023: Construction concludes

Return: Since the 1990's a New Great Migration has been underway by Black Americans- a return to the South prompted by economic opportunities and better lifestyles. It has also been a return to rituals, ancestral knowledge and ways of life that we became disconnected from in urban centers in the North.

Reclaim: Mississippi remains one of the few states that has NOT seen this reverse migration yet. The opportunity is ripe for collaborative work between natives of the state and returning descendants. With the largest black population of any state, an intentional return to MS provides rich opportunities to change the landscape of black life, fully establishing the South as a safe space and reclaiming a relationship with the land that was severed through servitude.

Rematriate: This project is also about right relationship... A return to a spiritual way of life with respect for Mother Earth. This is the space we envision will radically change future generations of our family's orientation to both nature and the materialistic consumption that comes with capitalism. We also honor the 5 generations of women whom this land has passed through and the spirit of self-sufficiency and power that womxn possess.

Retreat: The work that has been born from the reclaiming of our spiritual practices beyond Christianity has led to a journey of healing. We seek to support the journey of healing for black folx on this land, as black owned spaces to retreat remain minimal.