Customer Reviews

Black Farmers in America

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In 1920 black Americans made up 14 percent of all farmers in the nation: they owned and worked millions of acres. Today they are less than 1 percent of the nation's farmers and less than 3 million acres are cultivated under their hand. BLACK FARMERS IN AMERICA provides a photo documentary of their lives, providing some 100 duotone photos with chapters hardship and farming life. Juan Williams provides the historical background for the photos as he charts racism and struggles as they affected black farming efforts in this nation. A 'must' for any college-level collection strong in Afro-American history and studies.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

John Ficara, a well respected photojournalist, undertook this ambitious documentary project on his own. With a world filled with "celebrity" journalisim, Ficara devoted a major period of time to document the plight of Black Farmers in America. Not done with pity or cheap shots, Ficara brought us a book with integrity, remarkably strong images, and an understanding of an issue overlooked by the main stream press and government.

This is a book which should be a must for each serious library and photography program.

A "keeper"!.

John Ficara is a truly gifted photojournalist. His latest undertaking is a work of love and historical necessity. The plight of the Black farmer in America is that they are quickly losing out to large corporate entities, and the family farm is quickly vanishing. Ficara's documentation of their lives and fruitless efforts to continue a family tradition is admirable and very well done. A true keeper for those who admire beautiful photography and historical documentation.

I didn't want a pictorial illustration of black farming. I wanted to learn more history. Was disappointed in my expectations, but if you manage your expectations right, you probably will like this book!

OUTSTANDING!!! I bet I have looked at this book from cover to cover a dozen times AND STILL find it moving ever time I go back and look at it again. I feel a kinship to many of the people shown because they reminded me so much of my own family and the lives they lived as farmers.

This is no "coffee table book of pictures!" Appropriately done in black and white, the photography is stunningly powerful. No sugar coating here in telling the story of the hardship these folks lived. The photos captures their lives and moods in a plane and simple way leaving viewers with a real sense of "the other side of America."

If you purchase this book. be prepared to have those around you take a look at it and then talk about it.

John Francis Ficara, you did good!

The picture on page one is of Griffen Todd, a third-generation farmer. He's standing in a recently plowed field, eyes turned toward the skies. Under his overalls he wears a pristine, starched white shirt. His son, Griffen Jr. will take over the farm.

This eloquent book paints a picture of what is happening today to small, independent, black farmers. Today, unlike the Todd family, most black farmers are the last generation.

Without a doubt, all small farms are being squeezed out by megafarms. But the black farmer, primarily through racism, is being driven out at rates at least ten times higher than their counterparts.

The pictures tell a story--pride, hard work, a connection to the earth. But don't neglect the essay. "Each photograph articulates the paradox facing black farmers: what looks like slavery is, in fact, the most courageous form of economic self-determination, and what looks like "the simple life" is, in fact, a profoundly complex and risky economic undertaking."

The last photograph depicts a vine-shrouded structure that once housed a farm family, and the essay ends with "These pictures are timeless and speak to the best virtues of the American heart... , Here is a golden twilight to treasure--the story of black American farmers.

I hope this is a documentary for black farmers of future generations, and not one about the fading of a way of life.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended.