John: In 1910, about 14% of U.S.
Farmers were black, owning more
than 16 million acres.
Now, according to the
agriculture's latest farm
census, only one in 100 farmers
is black, owning fewer than 5
million acres.
By one estimate, that's a loss
of land value of about $326
million.
A new documentary called
"Gaining ground: The fight for
black land" explores how this
happened, its lasting effect on
black families and their efforts
now to reclaim their legacy and
create generational wealth.
Emmy-nominated eternal Polk
wrote and directed the film, and
is one of the film's executive
producers, along with television
personality Al roker.
How did this big drop in black
farmers and black farmland
ownership, how did this happen?
>> Well, there is a little known
legal loophole called heirs
property, which essentially
allows for a person to buy a
interest in your property and
then force you to sell the land
at at a low rate, or you just
lose it because you don't have
the funds to to fight in the
court. So imagine you have ten
heirs who all have a claim to a
property and one of them sells
and it doesn't matter how big or
small the interest of the
property that they sell.
Someone who bought that interest
can now force you to sell all of
it.
So if it's 4,000 acres, and they
sell one acre, that sale of that
one acre will allow the
purchaser of that acre to be
forced to sell off all of the
land. And that's pretty
egregious when you think about
millions of acres that have been
lost.
John: As I understand it from
the documentary, a lot of
farmers thought by leaving it to
all their heirs, all their
children, for instance, it would
be better, it would be easier to
hold on to, but it didn't turn
out to be the case.
>> Well, exactly, because their
thinking was, and it kind of
makes sense, that you would have
to get everyone to sign off on
the property sale, but you do
not have to have everyone sign
off to sell one portion of the
property that you're entitled
to.
And it especially happens in
situations where there is no
will or no clear title to the
land.
And that's where, sort of, the
the chaos sort of comes in, with
a lot of people being able to
have a claim to a piece of
property. And it could be ten
heirs.
If it's one generation, two or
three, it could be 40 or 50.
And in some cases, where you
have five generations, it could
be 200 different people who have
a claim to a piece of land.
John: How much of this did you
know before you started working
on this project?
>> Man, it was it was amazing
for this to be such a pervasive
issue in the agricultural space
that I knew nothing about, this
particular legal loophole.
Whenever I mentioned this
project to anyone, and I
mentioned what the topic was and
what we were covering,
inevitably someone would say,
"Oh, that happened to me," or
"We're going through that right
now."
It is kind of a silent situation
because no one is advertising
"We're about to lose our land,"
and oftentimes people don't know
what kind of legal recourse they
have, where resources are
available to them. So they kind
of go through it alone. And this
film has really kind of
illuminated how how real this
issue is even now today. It's
still happening and people are
taking advantage of this
loophole.
John: On the inheritance law we
talked about earlier, you don't
just point out the problem.
You have solutions.
Seems to me that if someone is
in this situation and pays
attention to the film, they
would know what to do.
Is that a goal?
>> It definitely was. The idea
that someone could do something
and then take your home and then
you have to fight to get it
back. And you have to fight and
pay for it. It's not just you
fight and they say, oh, you
fought and fought it off. You
have to pay for your land that
you already own. Once you go
through this whole process of
it, if it comes out unfavorable.
So because this is such a
daunting situation to be in, I
really wanted us to show and
demonstrate that there were
people out here who are doing
the work and there are solutions
and ways you can monetize land.
Because that's another big thing
when you realize how much land
you have, the question then
becomes how do we take care of
it or how do we monetize it? And
I can tell you, no matter what
level economic or educational
background someone comes from,
inevitably I have someone who
comes to me and says, "I didn't
know this and thank you, because
now I know there are resources
and options for us with our
land."
John: In the documentary you
talk about and illustrate the
importance of this land to these
families in a spiritual way.
Was that something you really
wanted to make sure was told in
this film?
>> Yes. Yes.
I really felt that the land has
such a spiritual conversation
with people all over the world,
and because of different
situations here in the united
States, whether it's racism or
terrorism, where people were
driven off their land or just,
by some legal manipulation, they
lose the land.
We've lost the connection to
that land as a general populace.
And I think that's a common
issue.
No matter what background you're
from, that this connection to
the land is not what it -- what
it used to be.
And I think it's a very
spiritual thing that leads to
healing for us, you know, for
all of the things that come from
the Earth, to the connection to
the Earth, and what it provides
to us in terms of healing and
peace and meditation and
comfort, is something I really
wanted to express in the film I
want people to, to go back to
the land and be connected to it.
John: Eternal pope, the writer,
director and executive producer
of "Gaining ground," which is
going to be shown at some film
festivals coming up in the next
several weeks. Eternal Polk,
thank you very much.
>> Thank you for having me. It
was a pleasure.
♪♪