ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED! YOU MAY REGISTER AT THE EVENT! LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!
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Charles Sherrod came to southwest Georgia in 1961 as the first Field Secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He recruited students from area high schools and Albany State College. Sherrod led sit-ins, mass meetings, voter registration drives, and demonstrations; his leadership led to the Albany Movement. After years of working to advance human rights for people of color in southwest Georgia, Sherrod realized the power of land to feed families and as a tool to build a way of life for black people in southwest Georgia. His ministry since has been “All power comes from the land and absolute power comes from God,” and the idea to build a “new community” was conceived.
In 1968, Charles Sherrod and seven others (Fay Bennett; Bob Swann; Slater King and his wife, Marion; Lewis Black, a board member of the Southwest Alabama Farmers’ Cooperative Association; Leonard Smith, a colleague of Fay Bennett’s at the National Sharecroppers Fund; Albert Turner, field director for the Southern Conference Leadership Conference in Alabama) traveled to Israel to study the Kibbutz (a communal settlement, typically a farm). New Communities, Inc. (NCI) was formed in 1969, the organization purchased nearly 6000 acres of land in Leesburg, Georgia, which was the largest tract of black owned land in the United States. With cooperative land ownership and communal farming being the basis of the land, NCI became the first Community Land Trust in the United States, described in the Articles of Incorporation as “a nonprofit organization to hold land in perpetual trust for the permanent use of rural communities.” this structure has served as a model for the more than 800 Community Land Trust models that exist today.
In 1968, Charles Sherrod and seven others (Fay Bennett; Bob Swann; Slater King and his wife, Marion; Lewis Black, a board member of the Southwest Alabama Farmers’ Cooperative Association; Leonard Smith, a colleague of Fay Bennett’s at the National Sharecroppers Fund; Albert Turner, field director for the Southern Conference Leadership Conference in Alabama) traveled to Israel to study the Kibbutz (a communal settlement, typically a farm). New Communities, Inc. (NCI) was formed in 1969, the organization purchased nearly 6000 acres of land in Leesburg, Georgia, which was the largest tract of black owned land in the United States. With cooperative land ownership and communal farming being the basis of the land, NCI became the first Community Land Trust in the United States, described in the Articles of Incorporation as “a nonprofit organization to hold land in perpetual trust for the permanent use of rural communities.” this structure has served as a model for the more than 800 Community Land Trust models that exist today.
Save the Date: October 2-5, Wednesday - Saturday
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Friday, Oct 4thMorning workshops on organizing and network support. Freedom singers, mass meeting experience, and Charrette-style planning session. Later in the evening, our special guest speaker will bring a stirring message.
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SATURDAY, OCT. 5TH
Land trust and other organizing workshops throughout the morning on different topics given by experts from across the country. Taste of Albany (Southern cuisine, vendors from all over the south), experience the Cultural Festival that shows off the best that Southwest GA has to offer: singing, dancing, crafts and more.
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Your Support is Critical
We invite you to become a sponsor the 50th Anniversary of New Communities Inc., the first community Land Trust in the US. We have intentionally planned a four-day celebration, that merges past concepts with future ideas to help participants learn, grow and plan ideal communities that advances equity, social justice and racial healing. We are expecting participants from around the country, including many representatives from hundreds of community land trusts that have formed in the United States to date.
To ensure the success of this event, we need your support! You too can become a part of the longstanding commitment to build communities with equitable access. Your support is vital to continuing the work that was started 50 years ago. Your organization’s commitment will be recognized throughout the year in our conference marketing materials, website, web-based app, printed programs and receive special attention and acknowledgement during the 50th Anniversary celebration week on October 2-5, 2019. For more information contact us at (229) 430-9870 or email: [email protected].
We invite you to become a sponsor the 50th Anniversary of New Communities Inc., the first community Land Trust in the US. We have intentionally planned a four-day celebration, that merges past concepts with future ideas to help participants learn, grow and plan ideal communities that advances equity, social justice and racial healing. We are expecting participants from around the country, including many representatives from hundreds of community land trusts that have formed in the United States to date.
To ensure the success of this event, we need your support! You too can become a part of the longstanding commitment to build communities with equitable access. Your support is vital to continuing the work that was started 50 years ago. Your organization’s commitment will be recognized throughout the year in our conference marketing materials, website, web-based app, printed programs and receive special attention and acknowledgement during the 50th Anniversary celebration week on October 2-5, 2019. For more information contact us at (229) 430-9870 or email: [email protected].
