Ten years have passed since the start of the grassroots movement for justice in the U.S. Department of Agriculture farm system. The nation's largest black farmers' organizations will mark the occasion with a rally outside USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The groups' leaders, along with hundreds of members and supporters, will then march to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress to ask them to:

* Provide black farmers with equal credit opportunity;
* Include black farmers in subsidy programs;
* Return money taken from farmers through offsets;
* Order the USDA Office of Civil Rights to reopen more than 9,000 complaints from black farmers that were closed without an investigation;
* Revamp the County Committee System, which discriminates against black farmers; and
* Distribute program funds in a fair and equitable manner.

For a decade these issues have been discussed in the White House and on Capitol Hill, yet the movement has struggled with a difficult reality: justice has not been achieved. The number of black farmers in America, one million strong at the turn of the century, has dwindled. Each year, bankruptcies and farm foreclosures take their toll. Discrimination and mega-farms owned by global conglomerates have contributed to this dramatic decline. The black farmer can best be described as a dying profession.

When: Wednesday, April 26, at 10:30 a.m.
Where: 1400 Independence Ave. SW
More Info: National Black Farmers Association and Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association