FIC: What does receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award mean to you? And what do you think it means to BIPOC communities?
Ira Wallace: I sometimes think that in the last couple of years, I've gotten a number of awards for the same work I’ve been doing for the past 30-40 years to figure out how we can raise up the BIPOC communities. In agriculture, there are lots of black and brown people who are part of the work, but actually, the people officially in charge are mostly white, even more so than in some other [professional] areas.
So, I feel two ways about it: it’s kind of like being a kid and being desegregated and you had to go out and do the best you can to be a credit to your race, but at the same time, you knew you were lining up for having to be tough, and give other people the benefit of the doubt, or it wasn't going to work out very well.
Read the rest in the Foundation for Intentional Community Newsletter
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