Live Zoom Event 1 
Wednesday, October 11

1:00pm Eastern | 12:00pm Central | 10:00am Pacific

We’re pleased to invite you to join us for a live conversation with Shirley Sherrod and Paul Jones to learn the rich and storied history of the movement to secure land rights and agricultural livelihoods for Black farmers in Southwest Georgia since the 1960s. How did systematic racial discrimination push Black farmers out of agriculture and land ownership, and how did a pecan growing project contribute to an enduring and powerful vision for justice? During two sessions this October, we’ll hear from Shirley and Paul firsthand and get a chance to ask questions and reflect on the ongoing work to sell these pecans under the Equal Exchange brand. Tune in for either or both sessions—we hope to see you there!

We are so proud to source our incredible pecans from Cypress Pond, a for-profit farm affiliated with a network of civil rights and community organizations working in southwest Georgia since the 1960s. Shirley and her husband, the late Charles Sherrod, built this inspirational network of organizations in spite of many setbacks. Charles was a founding member of the nationally influential Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s and, together with Shirley, went on to be a crucial leader in the civil rights movement. They founded New Communities as America’s first community land trust, owned and operated by Black farmers. New Communities, while no longer in existence, lives on in legacy and spirit through the inspirational work of the Southwest Georgia Project, the Charles Sherrod Community Development Corporation, and the Cypress Pond Pecan Project.