At the rally Gary Grant, President of the Black Farmers and
Agriculturists Association, spoke for the marching farmers representing 13
states when he said that, "It is time to take a stand. A LANDLESS PEOPLE
ARE BUT REFUGES IN A STRANGE LAND."

He further added that, "Black farmers are in an unholy war
with the USDA, and we are going to win and all the roadblocks and stumbling
blocks will be overcome. Just as the US government broke all its treaties with
the Native Americans, the Consent Decree in the Pigford vs Glickman settlement
is well on its way to being a bogus document just as the treaties with the
indigenous people and the ‘Emancipation Proclamation…

Black farmers have come here today to say that the ‘Check"
Dr King spoke of 34 years ago has been returned marked ‘Insufficient Funds’ once
again."

In a farmers’ meeting before the rally at First Iconium
Baptist Church the Black farmers protested that class council, Al Pires, had not
acted in the best interest of his clients when signing on to this Consent
Decree. Stephan Bowens, a lawyer for the Land Loss Fund and now giving legal
advise to B.F.A.A., explained to the farmers that the media has done a good job
at convincing America that the Consent Decree is working when the facts beg to
differ. He pointed out that "..1). the Consent Decree is not being
implemented properly, 2) over 40% of track A claims have been denied, 3) farmers
whose claims have been approved are not receiving the debt relief that was
promised by class council , 4) without consulting the farmers, class council
approved a doubling of the time limit which had been imposed on the USDA by the
court, 5) farmers claims have been denied without the government submitting any
evidence to contradict their claims, 6) systemic change has not taken place in
the USDA, 7) The USDA is using offsets to further bankrupt Black farmers , i.e.,
by taking disaster payments, CRP payments, tax returns, and possibly the $50,000
legal awards, 8)USDA is not returning land to Black farmers from
inventory."

Mr. Bowens will represent the Black farmers in Washington D.C.
February 28th at the Court of Appeals to appeal the Consent Decree and its
injustice. He and Mr. Grant are urging all Black farmers who have received
letters of denial or have not been responded to in a timely manner to join them
in D.C.

Lawyer Savi Horne asked the Black farmers to look at the larger
view of the struggle. Protesters against the World Trade Organization (WTO) are
protesting the same type of wrongs being done to the Black farmers but on a
global basis. She said that she found out on a visit to the orient that if China
entered the WTO "she would be required to reduce her farm population by 10
million per year. We must connect our struggle to the struggle of people
throughout the world for land."

Gary Grant reemphasized the need to develop coalitions and make
Al Gore understand that "…if the Black farmers can’t have their land,
then you can not be our president. Write, call or e-mail President Bill Clinton
and tell him that this injustice must stop. We want action and not
promises."

Dr. Ridgely Muhammad responding to a question about the possible
negative effects of abandoning the Democratic party by retorting, "What’s
the difference between dying from a gun shot or an arrow stuck through the
heart? Dead is dead and if Clinton, Gore and Glickman can’t get this mess
straight, then Gore needs to go home to Tennessee and raise horses."

As with the demonstration in Washington, DC on December 13th,
the Black farmers brought their "gun posters". And as in D.C. the
police and crowd could not resist asking questions about the "gun’s"
significance. Bro. Barry, an activist from New York, carrying one of the
"guns" responded, "A white USDA employee was found guilty of
carrying a loaded gun to his office, which he used to intimidate a Black farmer
asking about his USDA loan application in 1998. His punishment was one days
suspension with pay. So since they can bring guns to work, we thought that we
would bring posters of guns to a peace rally."

For information about the trip to the Court of Appeals in
Washington, DC on February 28, 2000 call Mr. Gary Grant, (252) 826-2800 or email
TILLERY@aol.com.

Thank you.