3/12/2023 0 Comments Warnock legacy racial tyrannyEverybody is suffering as a result of this system. We have a food system in our country that is severely broken and driving a lot of injustice in our nation and across the world. My intention is to cause a lot of good trouble. THE RECAST: Some say the Agriculture Committee has for a long time lacked “reformers.” Why did you decide you wanted to join?īOOKER: I decided to join, to put it in a simple way, for standing up for what's right - causing good trouble. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. POLITICO’s Ximena Bustillo, a legislative reporter, sat down - virtually - with Booker to discuss his plans for the committee, making “good trouble” and being the first vegan to serve in the Senate. (Provisions of the bill are also included in the covid relief bill making its way through the House right now.) And he joined with Warnock to introduce the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Bill, which would provide $5 billion in aid to Black, Native American, Latino and other farmers of color. ![]() He’s already reintroduced his Justice for Black Farmers Act, an ambitious bill that would, among other things, create a civil rights oversight board at the USDA and provide up to 160 acres to current and aspiring Black farmers. William “Mo” Cowan, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who served on the committee for five months in 2013.īooker got to work right away. Booker and Warnock are the first two Black senators to serve on the panel at the same time - and only one (!) other Black senator has served before. The Senate Agriculture Committee welcomed three new senators of color: Booker, Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Raphael Warnock, the Democratic freshman senator from Georgia. That’s why he’s especially geeked to be making history this month. And in rural areas hit hardest by the pandemic, farm workers, many who are Latino and undocumented, were left isolated without access to tests, treatment or information. Under the Trump administration, direct loans to Black farmers plummeted by almost half, according to the USDA. Rural + farmer does not always equal white.īlack and brown farmers historically have had a hard time getting loans and credit from the Department of Agriculture. And these days, the struggle for racial equity is increasingly playing out in agriculture politics. Cory Booker, health nut, onetime presidential candidate, former Newark mayor and self-proclaimed “boo” of Rosario Dawson, wants you to know that food - and farming - are racial justice issues. Anyone challenging business as usual in their fields. That includes longtime advocates, politicians, emerging players - and artists for whom art = activism. Fridays, we bring you The Sitdown, a forward-looking Q&A with people doing interesting work around politics and policy. ![]() ![]() Tuesdays, we bring you news and data and dispatches. Today's newsletter is a little different.
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