TODAY'S NEWSPAPER
Subscribe | PostPoints

SEARCH:

| Search Archives

washingtonpost.com > Photo

A Drive to Be Heard

John Boyd fights for the rights of black farmers in the farm fields of American and the hallways of Capitol Hill.

John Boyd on his farm near South Hill, Va. His family can trace its roots in the area back at least four generations.

Melina Mara-TWP

On his farm, Boyd prepares for haying a field.

Melina Mara-TWP

On his farm, Boyd tries to connect lines in order to prepare the vehicle for haying a field.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd's father was raised on a farm. His grandfather Thomas was a farmer. His great-grandfather was born a slave on the Boyd plantation, which was located just outside of South Hill.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd feeds his meat cattle.

Melina Mara-TWP

On his farm, Boyd works with farm hand Bobby Edwards.

Melina Mara-TWP

On his farm, Boyd makes appointments with Capitol Hill staffers via his BlackBerry. He is the president of the National Black Farmers Association.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd stops his farm work to participate in a conference call in his home office.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd on his BlackBerry. Several years ago, he joined a group of black farmers who were suing the government, saying they should be somehow compensated for all the USDA loans they didn't receive because of discriminatory lending practices.

Melina Mara-TWP

In 1999, the government settled the case for $1 billion. Sixteen thousand farmers received at least $50,000 apiece and debt forgiveness, and Boyd was one of them.

Melina Mara-TWP

The settlement helped Boyd become a successful farmer, but 70,000 additional farmers claimed they hadn't known of the lawsuit and wanted the case reopened. Boyd decided to become an advocate for other black farmers.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd meets with lawmaker and fellow farmer Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) in the senator's office on Capitol Hill.

Melina Mara-TWP

Keeping up with his farm and his advocacy work is more than a full-time job.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd speaks to Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.) after a hearing on Capitol Hill. For more than eight years, Boyd has been regularly making the three-and-a-half hour drive to Washington, D.C.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd works the phone from a cafe in between appointments on Capitol Hill. He worked on behalf of Obama during last year's election, promising farmer after farmer that Obama would come through for them.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd meets with Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) after a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd patently waits in a hearing room for his meeting with John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.)

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd takes a call while on his way to a meeting on Capitol Hill.

Melina Mara-TWP

Boyd walks a fence line on his property. He says he will not quit pushing for justice for the black farmer.

Melina Mara-TWP

Gallery Credits:
Audio Reporter, Photographer Melina Mara Producer, Audio Editor Megan Rossman Photo Editors Melina Mara, Megan Rossman Text Editor Kristen Fletcher

Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.

This Story A Quest to Be Heard Article \| Once again, John Boyd was waiting. He was in the Rayburn building, on the second floor, sitting outside the closed office of an important House Judiciary Committee staffer. It was 15 minutes after the meeting should have started, but the man Boyd had raced over to see was not there. A Drive to Be Heard		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace del.icio.us NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this gallery		More on washingtonpost.com • More Photo News » washingtonpost.com
» This Story:Read +\|Watch +\| Comments

Jobs | Cars | Real Estate | Rentals | Classifieds

SEARCH:

Search Archives

The Washington Post Company: Information and Other Post Co. Websites

Help | Contact Us