Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership by Brea Baker (6/18/24)

A powerful history of the impact of land theft and violent displacement on Black communities in the U.S., arguing that justice and reparations will stem from the literal roots-by an acclaimed writer, political strategist, and national organizerIt is impossible to understand the twenty-first-century racial wealth gap without first unpacking the historic attacks on Indigenous and Black land ownership. From the moment that colonizers set foot on Virginian soil, a centuries-long war was waged, and long after those initial colonial pursuits, an existential dilemma remained: Who owns what on stolen land? Who owns what with stolen labor? To answer these questions, we must be willing to face one of this nation's first sins: stealing and hoarding the land. Recent research suggests that between 1910 and 1997, Black Americans lost about 90% of their farmland. Now, less than 1% of rural land in the U.S. is owned by Black people despite the centuries of labor, enslaved or free, that cultivated thos