Join us as we celebrate African-American heritage and the history of Black farming in Vermont through seed planting and art-making. Families will plant heritage seeds and assemble beautifully illustrated plant IDs that they can then take home and display in commemoration of Juneteenth and Black history.

Information booths on local farms, historical information, advocacy groups, restaurants and catering, with opportunities to network and educate. 

Having traveled the country 30 years combing through antique shops, flea markets, estate sales and auctions, Dr. el-Hakim has personally acquired a diverse archive of memorabilia distinctively situating itself among the most sought after exhibits of its kind in the America. 

Among this unique collection are rare artifacts representing categories including (but not limited to) slavery, politics, Jim Crow, science, religion, education, music, sports, and civil rights.  Some of the highlights of the collection are documents signed by Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Mary Mcleod Bethune, W.E.B. Dubois, Paul Robeson, Rosa Parks, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver, Lena Horne, Carter G. Woodson, Angela Davis, and many other historical icons.

Intentionally displayed in non-traditional museum spaces such as classrooms, conference rooms, libraries, galleries and even living rooms, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum offers audiences a fresh and creative lens to view history while developing a broader appreciation for museums in general and providing a "safe space" to have honest conversations about race and social justice.

Our food system affects nearly all aspects of everyday life. Agriculture, processing and distribution contribute over $1.1 trillion dollars to the U.S. GDP.  In Vermont, agriculture and processing make up 4.3% of the State's GDP and employ over 56,000 people.  

Our State's economic, environmental and societal health all depend on the food system.  A fact that was starkly evident during the COVID19 pandemic when the weaknesses and inequities of the food system threatened the life of our communities.  Learn more from a panel of seven Vermonters who have devoted their lives to developing a truly equitable food system.  Come see what that looks and tastes like!

Panelists:  Earl Ransom, Strafford Organic Creamery 

                          Kenya Lazuli, NEFOC Network member & founder of the VT Every Town Project.   

                              Olivia Pena, Vermont Releaf Collective 

                              Leslie Wells,  Pizzeria Verità and Trattoria Delia.

                              Candace Taylor, Conscious Homestead 

                              Zymora Davinchi, ShiftMeals and the BIPOC GrowTeam 

            Facilitator: Lynn Ellen Schimoler, Agency of Agriculture   

Bios

Earl Ransom

Earl Ransom grew up milking cows on this 600-acre farm.  He and his wife, Amy Huyffer, carry on his family’s tradition of managing the land organically, with no herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers.  Their herd of 70 mostly-Guernsey cows grazes on rotational pastures for the entire growing season.

Candace Taylor

Candace Taylor is a land steward, yoga practitioner, herbalist, urban homesteader and ancestral cook.  Candace has a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Education from University of Vermont and a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies & Education from Smith College. "I am committed to living with not over the land, centering wholeness and radical love.   In my life I have been blessed to do profoundly meaningful, heart-centered, purpose-driven work. I have learned about the rhythms of nature and cycles of life and I believe all of life's waves are here to guide us."

Kenya Lazuli

Kenya Lazuli is Co-Founder of Radical Imagination. Her work is centered around creating space for Black, Indigenous and People of Color to be in solidarity with one another and the land. Her projects include running an arts residency, hosting skillshares and feeding residents and visitors from her unruly garden. Her current work, the Every Town project, is a collaborative effort with the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust with the primary goal of creating permanent land access and stewardship for BIPOC in Vermont.

Leslie Wells

Leslie McCrorey Wells is the co-owner of Burlington restaurants Pizzeria Verità, Trattoria Delia and Sotto Enoteca. After graduating from the University of Vermont, she split her time between New Haven, CT, where she worked in Adult Education and Distant Learning, and Vermont, where she completed a Master of Arts in History at UVM. Ms. Wells has served on the UVM Coming Home Project, the Burlington School District Strategic Planning Committee, Burlington Mayor Clavelle’s Anti-Racism Task Force and the board of Mercy Connections. She currently serves on the board of the Intervale Center, the University of Vermont's Fleming Museum and Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

Lynn Ellen Schimoler

Lynn Ellen Schimoler works in the Agriculture Business Development Division at the Vermont  Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. Schimoler manages the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Program, working closely with the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Board and Food, Farm & Forest Businesses throughout Vermont. Schimoler has over 25 years of experience in the private sector, having managed markets in the US on both coasts. She brings project management, store operations and product development expertise to her role at the agency. Schimoler has collaborated with National Cooperatives Grocers on organizational development, category management and store expansions for retail co-ops in New England. Schimoler has been featured in Edible Green Mountains and Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine. Schimoler is a trustee for the Vermont Land Trust, serves on the Vermont Women's Fund Board, and is on the Executive Board of the Real Organic project. Schimoler has a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Bennington College, and enjoys a part-time Dance Lecturer role at the University of Vermont.

Olivia Peña

Liv Peña first came to Vermont to attend UVM in 2013. Originally, she wanted to be a vet, but as she deepened her understanding of the past and present of the U.S. food system, Liv shifted her focus to advocate for a more equitable and sustainable food system. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Systems from UVM. Liv is passionate about nourishing community and advancing racial equity in food and agriculture in Vermont, which inspired her to launch the Vermont Releaf Collective. An aspiring farmer, Liv dreams of cultivating a homestead with lots of goats, sheep, orchards, and a few horses and cows.

Zymora Davinchi

Zymora Cleopatra Davinchi (she/her) is a mixed-race Black Queer Womxn + Femme, Afro-diasporan, and direct descendant of Chattel Slavery in the United States.  She was raised for the most part throughout Ndakinna (or colonially known as Vermont) and currently attends undergrad at the University of Vermont, where she's studying Public Communication and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies through the lens of community enrichment/planning work.

 Zymora works for ShiftMeals, the emergency COVID-19 food response program powered by Skinny Pancake, as one of their two BIPOC Food Sovereignty Program Managers and the Project Manager for the 2021 BIPOC GrowTeam. There she implements community outreach projects and develops resources for local BIPOC-Vermonters invested in food and land work, manifesting in many ways, such as the six-part webinar series, A Force To Be Reckoned With: Womxn in Vermont's Food System.

She also currently serves on the City of Burlington's Juneteenth Empowerment Committee, where she's helping coordinate the Black Healing Village, which focuses on Afro-diasporan personal, communal, and generational healing.  In her free time, Zymora enjoys doing many different things. She loves spending time with friends and family, being outside, hiking, drinking tea, collecting records on vinyl, writing poetry, doing yoga, and attending concerts + art exhibitions.

The True Black History Museum is an extraordinary collection of rare and authentic artifacts, dating from the late 1700's to the 21st century. The Collection was established to preserve the history of Black People and to educate others of the many great contributions that Black people have made to mankind. The Collection takes you on a journey through the use of these artifacts through the African American experience. Artifacts from the collection range from the many great civilizations in Africa, through the Mid Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery, The Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights / Black Power movement, through the modern day. The Collection celebrates and highlights contributions of African Americans in the arts, sciences, sports, entertainment, education and politics.

The Black Healing Village is an affinity space made by and for self-identifying Black folx to nourish and meditate on personal, communal, and generational healing. This village is an opportunity to provide Black folx with a good time, community activities, a shared meal, the ability to speak + move freely, be their authentic selves, and relax away from the gaze of whiteness. At this event, we will embrace Afro-indigenous wellness practices and celebrate Black artists, Earth-tenders, healers, and medicine people.

Guests include:

Amber Arnold from Susu CommUNITY Farm

Naomi Moody from Susu CommUNITY Farm

Julio Desmont

Dani Henry from Wholeness with Dani

Marlena Fishman from Zenbarn Farms

Victor K Dogah

Prince Awhaitey from Healthy Kingdom

Candace Taylor from Conscious Homestead

Cait Meeks from Bodhi Body

Jessica Anderson from Black Beauty Bounty

Generations after the end of slavery in the United States, the complete promise of Juneteenth has yet to be fulfilled. Join four of Vermont’s Black leaders as the look back at 156 years since Emancipation, discuss the modern Black American experience, and look forward to what full liberation ultimately means. Panelists include Xusana Davis, Zoraya Hightower, Tabitha Moore and Kiah Morris, with a discussion facilitated by Belan Antensaye.

The panel will begin with readings from the winners of The Young Writer’s Project Juneteenth Youth Poetry Contest.