Reclaimed Land: Growing Peace and Justice in Nashville (part 2)

Sizwe Herring is an environmental and social justice leader in Nashville, Tennessee and the founder of New Earth Matters Tennessee,  “a dynamic group of diverse earth educators dedicated to growing community through G.R.A.C.E.: Gardening, Recycling, Activism, Composting, and Education.” Influenced by the teachings of George Washington Carver, Sizwe Herring has been a leader for social and environmental justice in Nashville since moving there from Flint, Michigan in 1982.

Part 2 of this interview was conducted by Emmett McKinney of CoLab Radio.

How has your work intersected with the history of land in TN, and the people who have worked it and who have owned it? How do you see your work responding to or carrying a legacy forward?

Sizwe Herring: Right now I’m working on a project with the Trail of Tears. Trail of Tears was a mass migration of the Cherokee people who came up North to Oklahoma, as a way to clear the land from the indigenous people who lived here. So I am doing a lot of research on that, and I found out that a lot of it ties into what happened with the Underground Railroads, Harriet Tubman and many other African American, formerly enslaved people.

Notice I didn’t call them slaves. They weren’t slaves. They were people who were enslaved. So let’s respect these people as human beings, sons and daughters of God, and not reduce them just to slaves. These are people who were formerly enslaved, people who were either escaping slavery, or right after Emancipation they were still indentured and a lot of them were still enslaved – so the land itself had a lot of bad vibes because of everything that happened, with both the Trail of Tears and the railroad.

And then here in Nashville we’re also the seat of the Civil Rights movement. The American Baptist College here is where the movement actually began. There’s James Lawson, and John Lewis, Dr. King – they were all here in Nashville helping to launch that movement that ended up being, y’know, a successful movement across the country. So there’s a lot very rich history in the city, and the land itself right, y’know, right now is just being covered with condos and Starbucks and breweries.

And so many of our gardens have not survived this new influx of people. And we are hoping that people who see the value of what we are really holding onto will support us with resources. Whether they be financial resources, or just an encouraging letter is a resource. You calling me and asking me to do this interview is a resource – because somebody feels it’s important, you know, what we are doing.

But let’s make it clear – there’s a lot of financial need. The young people who work with us over the years, they deserve stipends for what they do. Or t-shirts, or a monthly outing somewhere. It costs money to create community.

I am also curious to hear your reflection on the destruction of the George Washington Carver garden in 2011. What was your experience of that destruction, and how did you think about moving forward?

Sizwe Herring: Yeah, well we definitely moved forward from it. We lost the democratic seat for governor. The new governor came in and appointed new commissioners. And the new commissioners – TN department of transportation did not want us there anymore. I believe he saw us as a threat because we were teaching people to be independent. We were teaching people to think for themselves, etc. etc. They came up with all these bogus reasons that we weren’t allowed to be there anymore. They pitted us against the city, as it was on state property. And then the city pitted us against the state – and next you thing you know, I’m up there with the commissioner in a three-piece suit and I get a call that there are bulldozers and wood chippers and trash cans and earth movers and front-end loaders, about 50 prisoners, about another 30 state workers, all on our site tearing everything town. They tore our greenhouse down. They tore our tool bank down. They destroyed our compost pile – the one in the shape of a giant heart. They destroyed our 30,000 pounds of compost ready for distribution.

It was once would have been called a blitzkrieg – they might have well dropped a bomb on us. And that’s how I felt. You asked how I felt about it. That’s how I felt. They dropped a bomb on us, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get through it or not. That was 20 years of my life.

And granted, because of my history, because of the way I was raised, I know that everything happens for a reason. I believe in divine order and I believe that it only opened up opportunities for us to go into other places. So we did; we ended up moving our gardens to 5 different locations based on what we were able to save from the Carver park. We went to 2 different churches, a community center, and a college campus.

The problem with that is, anybody will tell you trying to start a community project is you want community ownership. So you want to meet with the neighborhoods. And in a state of emergency you don’t the opportunity to do all that.  So these projects, they lasted a few years – but they weren’t rooted, so they didn’t take. 2 or 3 of them did. We made history in town. And what we did was set a precedent for future opportunities for communities to come together and grow food.

I’m not sure if that’s what you’re asking about. I honestly felt like it was a Twilight Zone. I thought I was going to wake up from a nightmare, you know. That’s how it made me feel. And a lot of people –it split our board. You know our board wanted to fight to stay. And other parts of our board were like ‘That doesn’t make any sense, you know, to fight such a behemoth.’ They got you know, all these attorneys. And we barely have – you know, I mean we had an attorney, but compared to what they have…it really did cause, you know it caused some problems in our leadership team. But it took a couple years, and we settled back down and started working on some rebuilding and I think we’ve done pretty well over the last few years.

When we last talked, you told me about driving past the garden and how your thinking shifted. Could you recount that experience again?

Sizwe Herring: Sure, and I’m glad you mentioned it – because I don’t want people to go away thinking I have any sort of bitterness towards that. What we decided to do was have a day of forgiveness. A lot of what happened wasn’t just state people coming in. It was also the new quote-unquote “neighbors” – it was the beginning of this major inundation of gentrification in our community. So where there was African American families. The block within 2 or 3 years, that block was completely turned the opposite. And people move in from cul-de-sacs, and they wanted, well I don’t know what they wanted, but anyways, they weren’t happy with us. So there were several neighbors that went so far as to call us names and make up things about us. I mean we were victims of a lot of vitriol from these people.

So we, in a way, you know instead of trying to give them back what they gave us, we decided we were going to have a day of forgiveness. There were times that I couldn’t even drive by the garden, because I would feel my heart rate rise, and I knew it wasn’t healthy for me. And it would get to a point where if I was in a vulnerable state, I would really feel bad. And I said wait a minute I cannot let this impact my life this way. So we had volunteers come out, we had prayers and games, and we had an earth flag and marched around the former site – and ever since that day, man, I haven’t had any issues. I drive by now, and the neighbors, I wave at ‘em.

So that was the lesson I learned, whether in your family or your work place, the power of forgiveness is a central gift that we have been given. One day, I couldn’t drive by the site, and we had the event, and the next day I was smiling.

[This is the second part of a 2-part series. In the first post, Sizwe Herring describes the genesis of New Earth Matters Tennessee and the different ways of knowing that inspire his work. Sizwe is available to speak, teach and consult on various themes, opportunities and projects. He encourages folks to reach out through email (bro.sizwe@gmail.com) or voicemail (615) 252-6953. Support online at www.emtn.net or newearthmatters.org.]

About the Author:

Emmett McKinney is a Producer for CoLab Radio, where he works to amplify community narratives. As a Master in City Planning student (2020), Emmett works to ground policies aimed “sustainability” and “resilience” in communities’ lived experiences. His current research focuses on transportation and water infrastructure, and how equity and justice are integrated into data-driven planning. Outside of CoLab, Emmett can be found running, drinking coffee, and dancing to reggaeton.