Dawn-Lyen Gardner Instagram – Although #WomensHistoryMonth has come to a close, I want to take a moment to celebrate a woman who is herself making history, unearthing history, & ultimately healing history. That woman is author & writer @nataliebaszile. I truly believe that every Black person in this country whose roots go back to the American South should have her latest offering, WE ARE EACH OTHER’S HARVEST, somewhere in their life. It is an achingly beautiful curation of writers, poets, thinkers & farmers — all speaking not only to the history of Black farmers & the legacy of land, but to the relationship that we all still have to rural communities and to food-growing & making… whether we are aware of it or not. I started reading this book over the holidays, & I was blown away by its quiet and transformative power. It felt like Natalie was weaving together threads of history that have been cut or at least frayed over the years for so many families (mine among them), who moved west & north in the waves of the Great Migration — & whose stories of farming & agriculture may have been lost, forgotten or banned due to the pain that came with them. I wanted to celebrate her today, because I turned to HARVEST for reprieve during a time of sadness related to all of this and more. What I found in those pages was so healing and whole-making, that it often brought me to tears while reading. It was also so rich and recognizable that I found myself nodding or laughing or shaking my head in disbelief at the amount of questions being answered with one piece of work. She not only offers us reclamation of the legacy of Black farmers (and a true accounting of the racism that tried to bury that legacy), but she celebrates all those who preserved it through incredible hardship – as well as those who now are redefining that legacy and that identity in our modern era, especially uplifting those women of color. And for me personally, she is modeling what it looks like to truly allow your craft, purpose, journey & art to converge in the best of ways – producing work that is transcendent, restorative, & of great service. I celebrate & thank you, Natalie Baszile. Happy belated #WomensHistoryMonth.