Lentils and Justice for All

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:



Lentils and Justice for All
It all begins with food: Brahm Ahmadi and Reverend Robert Jeffrey on restoring the health and wealth of inner-city communities.

by Christa Hillstrom
posted Feb 14, 2011


Memphis, Tennessee, 1892: An African American-owned neighborhood grocery store was invaded by a mob of white men vowing to "eliminate" competition posed by black businessmen who were becoming "too independent." The three entrepreneurs— Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart—fought back and even shot an attacker, but were eventually overwhelmed. They were arrested, charged with conspiracy and provoking a riot, and subsequently jailed. Meanwhile, their business was looted and burned down.

Inflamed by sensational headlines that branded the three owners as "Negro desperadoes" harboring criminals in their store, a second white mob stormed the jail, captured the prisoners, and lynched them outside of the city.

In an era of escalating racial tension, the three murdered men were guilty of prospering financially, competing with white businesses, and establishing a gathering space in which the black community could create wealth and independence. It was called the People's Grocery Company.

More than a hundred years later, on the other side of the country, Brahm Ahmadi and other activists were piecing together the connections between environmental justice, racial inequality, economic dependence, unemployment, and disease in their community of West Oakland, Calif. They traced long-term health problems to structural roadblocks encountered by impoverished inner-city neighborhoods nationwide: the inability to grow local businesses, the funneling of community wealth to other areas, and the resulting lack of jobs and access to healthy, affordable food. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/lentils-and-justice-for-all-1