SouthTalks: SOIL: Exhibition & Women in Agriculture Panel

Overview

Photographs in the SOIL exhibition in Gammill Gallery are made by photographer Justin Hardiman, curated by Adrienne Domnick, and presented by Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) and Rootswell. They honor the farmers and the advocates whose resilience and creativity shape both the Mississippi Delta and the nation. SOIL delves into the narratives of Black farmers who have shaped the agricultural landscape of the Mississippi Delta.

This SouthTalk will offer an opportunity to engage with the exhibit at the closing reception and to learn from a panel of women in agriculture: Annie Hollowell and her daughter, Annette Hollowell, of Foxfire Ranch, and rice farmer Christi Bland-Miller of Bland Family Farm, moderated by Partnership for a Healthier America program coordinator Jermeria Skillom.

In 2017, Christi Bland-Miller founded CMB Farm LLC. Her leadership, innovation, and advocacy have established her as one of the nation’s leading voices in agriculture and the rice industry. She has earned national recognition, including being named one of America’s Best Young Farmers and being selected as the first African American woman to participate in the USA Rice Leadership Development Program.

Annie Hollowell grew up in the countryside of Holly Springs, the daughter of sharecroppers Mark and Connie Nunnally. She retired from the registrar’s office at the University of Mississippi to co-run Foxfire Ranch.

Annette Hollowell wears many crowns—mother, entrepreneur, facilitator, and lawyer with a particular calling toward community building, peace work, and Black liberation. She is committed to holding intergenerational spaces for rest, retreat, deep learning, connection, healing, and celebration. Her storytelling is rooted in ancestry, culture, and Mississippi’s long-standing legacies of Black landownership.

Jermeria Skillom is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a BS in dietetics and nutrition. Currently serving as the Mississippi Delta program coordinator for Partnership for a Healthier America, she works to expand access to nutritious foods, to strengthen local food economies, and to ensure that communities have the resources they need to thrive.

SOIL is made possible through the generosity and support of Rootswell in collaboration with Partnership for a Healthier America, who is committed to elevating stories of land, health, and community. This official America250 project was also made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through support from the State of Mississippi.