Support Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the Fiber Community
This post was last edited/updated in March 2021.
In the process of updating and redesigning my website, I moved the directory of BIPOC-owned farms to its own static page to be perma-linked in the menu. This helps to clean up the link and keep it from getting buried in the blog.
how systemic racism has harmed the bipoc community and business/property owners
Reading materials for learning how the government abused eminent domain policies to steal property and land from the Black community:
“The United States Commission on Civil Rights recently reported that from 1920 to 1978, the number of farms ‘operated by blacks in the United States diminished from 925,710 to 57,271, a loss of 93.8%. By comparison, farms operated by whites diminished during this same period from 5,499,707 to 2,398,726, a loss of 56.4%. Moreover, the divergence between these rates of loss has been increasing. Between 1969 and 1978 the
rate of loss of black-operated farms was two and one half times that of white-operated farms. This dramatic drop in black ownership of land, termed “the ‘largest single equity resource in minority hands’ in the South,’ is estimated to have been the result of partitioning sales in over half the recent cases.””
The ownership of land within Indigenous communities is also a complicated one. For example, over the history of the US, the government had entered into over 500 treaties with various indigenous tribes, and has violated or outright broken all of them. Reservation land is communal land (which makes it difficult if anyone wants to get a loan to start a business, there’s no collateral). I am going to add that I have very little understanding of the situation. I would link an article talking about it here, except all of the ones I’d come across are problematic in some way. The only thing I can be sure of is that the US government has historically never done right by the indigenous communities here.
When WW2 came, and FDR signed Executive Order number 9066, nearly two thirds of the West Coast Japanese Americans had worked in agriculture - they were forced to work on government farms in these camps (remember, the Constitution allows slavery as punishment for a crime - except… they weren’t criminals?). What happened to the lands they farmed prior to the war? They were parceled off to veterans returning from the war. Oh, and the government apparently apologized and gave each survivor 20k in 1992?! Which I’m sure is more than anyone in the Black or indigenous community ever received for stolen land, but still pennies in comparison, and decades too late. Here’s more on that situation written in greater detail than the NPR article.
More articles:
The reason why this particular post was delayed, was because I was having a lot of difficulty connecting with Black, Indigenous, or People of Color who are fiber providers, aka those who raise sheep and sell the raw wool or wool products that they had sent off to the mill and had processed into batting, roving and yarn. I met a few through the Livestock Conservancy’s Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em group, but that group is specific only to raising heritage breeds and participating in the SE2SE project. What about shepherds/shepherdesses who do raise fleece, but are not part of the livestock conservancy group, or do not raise heritage breeds, or are not part of SE2SE?
To put it another way, I just counted nearly 550 providers on The Livestock Conservancy’s directory for “wool” (give or take, because I was having to manually count, they don’t return a “total”). However, when I asked in the Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em group who are the Black, Indigenous or People of Color who are providers - which, by the way, is public (read at your own discretion, realize some people did get booted and their comments with them) - there were… twelve. Initially only 8, and then three more commented on TLC’s “official statement.” I’m sure there are some on the directory who are not in the Facebook group, and/or will not see the posts because they’ve since become buried, but I also know at least one who did comment isn’t on the directory listings. Side note: this is one of three react posts to mine - the other two were taken down. There was also a post with more comments from TLC before their official statement the following day. Again, read at your own discretion - I went back and forth on sharing these other permalinks, but I decided to share for those who want to see the whole situation, to come to their own conclusions and make ethical decisions on whom they choose to support. After all, the group is public, and they made the decisions to write what they did for all to see. If someone commented on there who is now embarrassed about others being able to see what they wrote, or which posts they chose to like/love/angry react, and wants to accuse me of defamation, maybe they should be more careful about what they choose to do on public forums. To them, I say I hope it was worth it.
Doing the math, just based on those numbers (regardless of whether or not they’re in the directory), only 0.02% of the total fiber providers listed on the livestock conservancy directory self-identified as BIPOC.
If it weren’t for SE2SE, I’m not sure how I would have met them otherwise. It made a few of us aware of just how needed it is to have some sort of directory or way to connect fiber producers with fiber artists outside of just the heritage breed community, or make it easier for us to connect in general outside of costly (time and money) efforts such as memberships and fiber shows - which really have a limited radius as far as those who are able to attend.
While the Black farming community is slowly growing, as is evidenced by searching the hashtags #blackfarmer, #blackfarmers or #blackhomesteader, it’s still such a tiny fraction of the farming community, which is dominated by white families. At the time of writing this, there is no way to narrow down my search within another hashtag (such as search for #rawwool within the #blackfarmer hashtag) so unless there is a hashtag I am completely unaware of, I’m coming up empty on my Instagram searches.
There just aren’t many out there, period. Which is all the more reason why we should do everything we can to support the ones there are, as well as any who may be interested in venturing into this business.
In the meantime, while the website platform I use does not have any way to integrate a directory service that is built in at this time, I can continue adding anyone who wishes to be included on the list below until we have a better solution. If you yourself are a fiber provider who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (or your spouse, if you run the farm together), and you aren’t on this list but would like to be, please leave a comment or send me a message. Please provide your name, links to how people can find you or get in contact, and if possible, the sheep breeds that you raise for anyone who’s looking for something specific (regardless of SE2SE membership/participation). A photo (with your permission of course) would also be wonderful, but I can just provide links sans photos as well.
fiber providers
Where did the list go?!
In the process of updating and redesigning my website, I moved the directory of BIPOC-owned farms to its own static page to be permalinked in the menu. This helps to clean up the link and keep it from getting buried in the blog.
fiber artists
Photo of Sojourner Truth, copyright Sojourner Truth who copyrighted her own image (though now it is creative commons) - click through to read more about this amazing woman
Luckily, there’s greater diversity within the fiber art community, although not by much. After all, it’s a bit easier to get your hands on a pair of knitting needles and yarn, as opposed to land and livestock. Many Black, Indigenous or People of Color who do fiber arts are still treated as though they’re entering into a white space or practicing “white people crafts,” and nothing could be further from the truth. They might get reactions of surprise or face microaggressions from white people when they come to a sewing circle, quilting events, knitting/crochet circles, and so on, which is still largely dominated by white women. However, if you think about it, long before fast-fashion, everyone made their own clothes, blankets, and other domestic goods, unless they had the money to pay someone else to do it. Even after the fashion industry grew and became more accessible, there were still many who continued to sew and knit and crochet their own because it was cheaper. These skills were passed down from grandparents, to parents, to children, over many generations. So why are white people so surprised to see someone who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color within the fiber arts community?
Although the “domestic arts” were largely practiced out of necessity (much like cooking your own food when you don’t have access to restaurants or extra money to spend), there’s also a really long history of activism, in the form of craftivism, especially when it came to racial liberation and women’s suffrage movements. In fact, there’s a knitting collective called the YarnMission that was organized following the murder of Michael Brown - the blog has plenty of great resources on there, including one on Black dyers and Black-owned yarn companies if you’re looking to buy some yarn. Also, their facebook and instagram accounts are very much active, if you’d like to give them a like and a follow, and they have a Facebook group for knitters (white folx allowed as well, but mind your manners.)
I also recommend checking out the craftivism blog, which has provided a number of posts on the history of craftivism. For me, the fact that the domestic arts have such a rich history of activism makes it all the more special and important to continue carrying the torch and passing on skills. I love having this connection to women in history who have used fiber arts as a means to cause change. So the next time someone announces their departure in a fiber group because of “politics,” let’s remind the white people who are accepting of the status quo that they’re the ones out of place.
Another wonderful resource for connecting with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are fiber artists (as well as teachers, graphic designers, those who make tools, etc.) is BIPOC in Fiber, founded by Jeanette Sloan. The website is newly launched, so I’m sure they are still actively working on adding more artists and makers to the directory. I noticed a few are yet to be added for some reason, like one blog I really love called GGMadeIt, authored and owned by Gaye Glasspie. I look forward to watching that directory grow and add additional makers and providers to their lists. It also appears to be international (unlike the providers I have listed here, which are all located in the US), so if you’re located in other countries, it would be worth checking out. I look forward to sitting down with some coffee and reading through some of the other blogs on there. BIPOC in Fiber also has an Instagram account that’s worth following.
For those interested in supporting Indigenous communities, check out Oomingmak Alaskan Qiviut Handknits, a cooperative that sells items knit from spun musk-ox downy soft underwool. You can also buy kits to make your own, skeins of yarn, or even buy the wool itself if you wanted to try working with qiviut (under gifts & cap kits). If you’re interested in purchasing Navajo blankets, get them directly from the makers instead of going through a middle man. I found at least two “middle men” who buy and resell these blankets - the problem is, any time you buy from a middle man, part of the money goes to the seller - all that money doesn’t go back to the maker themselves, and you have no idea how much of a cut they’re getting. It’s a bit of weird thing to me, that there are white men profiting off of indigenous artisans. On the one hand, they are (hopefully) paying the artisans from whom they purchase their wares, but I have no way of knowing if they severely undercut their prices. I would feel more comfortable supporting an indigenous-run trading post, where the money goes back to the community. So, if possible, go directly to the source or ask around. For example, Nikyle (whom I mentioned above as a navajo churro provider) also weaves, so you could ask them if they have any available for sale, or commission your own, or if they know of anyone else in the community who has any blankets for sale. The same goes for any other indigenous crafts - we’re all online these days, just a bit of searching will help you connect with the Indigenous group that is known for making the thing you’re looking for, and ask if there is anyone who is selling the item that you’re wanting to purchase. Or, at least once the pandemic is over, just go to a powwow. Many are open to the general public, and there are vendors there who sell their handiwork - show up in time for the grand entry, listen to the songs, watch the dancers in their beautiful regalia, enjoy the really good food (I’ve never had a venison steak and sassafrass tea that tasted so good as the one I had at a powwow), and support the community with your money. Again, mind your manners.
As far as needle felting goes, which is a much more recent art form unrelated to “domestic arts” (and since this is my primary fiber art medium, I thought I’d share), I only know of three. There are people in the Asian community who needlefelt; in fact, one of the better known sources for kawaii needle felting kits comes from the Japanese company Hamanaka (I don’t think they’re all wool, fyi, I do have an acrylic “needle felting” set to try out for the blog at some point). That being said, there are three better known individuals who are fiber artists that I wanted to share.
Nastassja Swift is a Black fiber artist who makes these amazing, large, needle felted heads and figures. I definitely recommend you check out her work here. Please also check out their Black Lives Matter link, with resources on whom to fund, as well as links to some really great artists, some of whom are fiber artists as well (Avery Williamson, Krystle Collins, Stephanie J. Woods), and all of whom are also worth checking out.
There’s also Kiyoshi Mino, who lives on an organic farm and also loves to needle felt very realistic looking animals - their work is absolutely stunning.
The third, whom many people in the needle felting community are familiar with by the name of Woolbuddy, is the fiber artist Jackie Huang - he started out making toys for his daughter, and then later grew his business out of it, even publishing a book which I reviewed here.
If there are other BIPOC needle felting artists who are publicly sharing their work that I am not aware of, please share in the comments below.
Other Instagram accounts worth following include Meet Makers of Color, Black Makers Matter, and The Makers of Color Collective.
I hope this post left you with a number of resources you can follow, and providers you can connect with, whom you can support directly by purchasing their wool. May I also suggest don’t haggle with them - these are small farms, the money they make off a fleece doesn’t even cover the cost of caring for the animal it grew on, not to mention if they aren’t shearing themselves, they’re paying someone else to do it, and it’s back breaking work. The same goes for the indie dyers - those skeins made from wool, alpaca, silk, or blends, are going to be far more expensive than the mass produced plastic (I mean acrylic) yarns you can find in your local fiber shop - and the cheap wool yarn you get in those shops isn’t necessarily top quality, not to mention the amount of money farmers make off fleece from those selling to a company are pennies for the pound. Add to that the time and care it goes into dyeing those skeins in the colors you love takes a lot of skill and practice. So, if you’re cheaping out, remember that your savings come at the cost of someone else. Quality (and ethics) over quantity, always.
Post thumbnail photo by Chris King on Unsplash
