Who do you hold the door for?

Food Sovereignty Between Power and Politics

In March, we held a parallel event during the 66th session of the Commission of the Status of Women forum for the United Nations. Our board member & host started the discussion by asking: Who do you hold the door for?

The question was answered by all 5 of our guests + the host.

"I'm holding that door for those that are black and mixed, and are tokenized for being black and mixed. I'm calling them in to utilize their privileges for the movement. I'm holding the door for all of the ghetto youth that are constantly forgotten. I'm holding the door for me and all of those who are younger. I'm holding the coordinate for the real weaving of black land and land back between black and indigenous communities. I'm holding the vision of parks departments utilizing their land for food sovereignty." -Amber Tamm

"The people I hold the door for are the small scale farmers, indigenous women, pasteurized fisher folk, and of course, all of us who consume food and who desire to have good food -and that includes myself." -Bridget Magambi

"I am holding the door for all people who feel disconnected & dislocated, because we've been uprooted and planted in places where we shouldn't be. I'm holding the door, especially, for our young people who find themselves lost and feel that they don't belong anywhere. And I'm saying that you do belong and you have the right to grow roots wherever you are." -Dee Woods

"I hold the door for every one of our women; our young women and our elders, who know that this is our time. - Who know what it means to hold the other half of the sky." -Dr.Dimah Mahmoud

"The space that I'm holding is to challenge the narrative that exists- that "Africans are poor", that "Africans are beggars", and actually show that there is something good that can come from the continent. We try to connect the North and the South to try and change this narrative." -Leonida Odongo

"I'm opening the door for ancestor, Thomas Sankara. He spoke fiercely on the colonial origin of debt. I also hold this space for thousands of black farmers who organized in 1999 to bring a lawsuit against the USDA for decades of anti-black racism. I definitely hold this space for all the ancestral wisdom, because they knew that debt was a way to dispossess & dislocate us from our lands and the pathway to liberation." -Tracy Lloyd McCurty

Click the image below to hear the full dialogue on our YouTube:

When we hold these events, discussions, and spaces for our communities and those who are often left out of the narrative on important topics, like Food Sovereignty, we want to know for whom are you making a path so that one day they can join the discussion. Who are you saving a seat for at the table? Who will benefit from the important work that you’re doing?

And so we pass the question off to you! Who do you hold the door for? Whether your work is within Food Sovereignty or any social justice form, we want to know!

Donate to EDFU Foundation if you can! Your support helps us continue the work we do and to be able to hold these events and create space for all to be included!