Community Uplift Research Articles

Humanistic leadership in the Tata group: the synergy in personal values, organisational strategy and national cultural ethos

PurposeTo identify the characteristic features of humanistic leadership in the Tata group in India, and to explicate the key facilitating factors.Design/methodology/approachNarrative case-study inquiry via semi-structured interviews with top management leaders and middle managers, and secondary sources of information.FindingsThe top leaders of the Tata companies emphasised the following values and leadership experience: (1) Adherence to the founder's philosophy and the basic core values, (2) Leadership with Trust, (3) Community as the key purpose of the enterprise, (4) Senior leaders as mentors and role-models, (5) Abiding by the ethical code of conduct, (6) Employee-focus and (7) Tacit alignment with Indian cultural values. These resonated with the humanistic leadership tenets. Based on the literature the authors also identified that in Tata leadership, there is an amalgamation of personal values (humata, hukhta, hvarshta: good thought, word and deed) and national cultural ethos (dharma, karma and jnana: emphasis on duty-bound action and knowledge). These leadership values are conveyed and institutionalised in the organisation via strategic initiatives such as the Tata Trusts, Tata Business Excellence Model, Tata Code of Conduct. This synergy of personal values, national cultural ethos and organisational strategy makes Tata group realise the humanistic leadership objectives, while achieving business targets.Research limitations/implicationsThe thematic analysis of interview data provides a contextualised understanding of how humanistic leadership gets realised at both the individual behavioural level, as well as at the broader organisational strategic level. This provides inputs to building the theory of humanistic leadership.Practical implicationsBy unravelling the factors that facilitate the realisation of humanistic leadership in the Tata group, the authors provide an exemplar for other organisations and business leaders to draw insights from.Social implicationsHumanistic leadership, oriented towards upliftment of community and society, and not just profit maximisation, is critical to creating a more sustainable and peaceful world.Originality/valueThis is one of first studies that conceptualises the Tata leadership from the humanistic perspective. The theoretical insights are of basic and applied use.

Assessing socio-economic vulnerability to climate change-induced disasters: evidence from Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, India

ABSTRACT Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR), a fragile ecosystem, is susceptible to frequent cyclones, floods, and storm surge. The study impeccably analyzed the socio-economic vulnerability in SBR using pragmatic approach. Average storm surge height, slope amount, flood inundation, drainage proximity, and drainage density were used for assessing exposure while sensitivity and adaptation were examined from the data derived through a comprehensive field survey of 570 households in SBR. The revelation of the study manifested very high vulnerability in Basanti, Gosaba, Kultali, Namkhana, and Patharpratima blocks and high vulnerability in Kakdwip, Sagar, and Hingalganj blocks of SBR. Constant exposure to cyclones and storm surges, frivolous infrastructural setup, impoverish social structure, and lamentation of losses are major barriers to overall socio-economic upliftment of communities. Consolidated infrastructural setup, proper early warning system, disaster monitoring centres, better transport connectivity within remote islands, better livelihood opportunities, education, and awareness may help in improving the socio-economic conditions of the communities. Pragmatic approach assisted in the cogent understanding of climate change impacts and indicated adaptive and mitigation measures to improve coastal society in SBR. Thus, the approach has proven to be effective for analyzing the impact of climate change-induced hazards on socio-economic condition on the communities in coastal areas.

The interplay between ethnic and academic identity construction among South Asian students in Hong Kong tertiary education

This qualitative study investigates the interplay between the ethnic and academic identity construction of a group of university students with South Asian backgrounds in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that ethnic identity and ethnic socialization have protective and facilitative effects on learning motivation and academic achievement. It is found that these ethnic minority students receiving tertiary education, holding congruent views of ethnic and academic identity, display a sense of agency and critical reflectivity of both the host society and their heritage communities and see facilitating community uplift and developing a more positive social image of ethnic minorities as their generation’s responsibility. Reconstructing an ethnic identity and developing new social images therefore motivate them to pursue academic success. The findings indicate that the South Asian students figured out ways in which to interact with the outer world and set up new roles and spaces (i.e., a heritage community with more positive social image). The findings shed light on how to provide better opportunities for and assistance to ethnic minority students when they pursue higher education.

Apriori to agricultural problems emerged through participatory rural appraisal in temperate zone of the Himalayas

The participatory rural appraisals were exercised during 2014 in temperate Himalayas in eight gram panchayats of Sangrah block of district Sirmour of Himachal Pradesh. The purpose was to unravel the problems being faced by the farmers, prioritise them and devise apriori based solutions for the upliftment of the peasants. The project area had 22 villages spread over 5611.09 ha. Out of which, 701.02 ha was the cultivable area in the possession of 12906 cultivators. The area was rugged, had steep topography and was stratified into ladder type fields. The matrix analysis extrapolated the prime problem of monkey and wild animals menace. Other problems ranking in the descending order were: erratic irrigation and drinking water supply, lack of awareness about new techniques, ginger rot, poor connectivity by road and communication, migration of youth from villages to cities, unavailability of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers etc., soil erosion, hindrance due to local politics, erratic electricity supply, abandoned agriculture due to public distribution system, lacking minimum support price and crop insurance of each crop, unconsolidated land, lacking higher education facility, labour scarcity due to MGNREGA and migration, defunct apple cultivars, frequent blockage and breakage of irrigation kuhals (channels) and invasion of obnoxious weeds. The insight solutions and the unleashed problems lies in farming bi-pronged strategy which must concentrate on i) convergence of schemes, and ii) apriori based approaches for the upliftment of rural community of the temperate Himalayas. The outcome of the present study suggested seven proposals for improving income resources of hilly peasants.

I Like You. I Like You Not. Dynamic Social Impact Perceptions of an International Sporting Event

It is a fact that tourism endeavors require the backing of the residents of the communities where it takes place to be sustainable. To date, most social impact studies measure a single instance of residents' tourism social impact perceptions. However, the literature reveals that residents' perceptions might change over time, and therefore a panel data measurement approach is suggested. It was the purpose of this study to use panel data to measure (over 3 years) the social impact perceptions of residents in the impoverished city of Kimberley in South Africa towards the annual Kimberley Diamond Cup skateboarding event. In total, 1,039 questionnaires were collected over 3 years using stratified sampling. Four factors were revealed: city development, negative impacts, community upliftment, and increased tourism activity. When examining social impact perception trends, a general decline was observed in the positive perceptions, while the negative perceptions remained unchanged. This reveals that the event is not contributing towards positive social impact perceptions as in the beginning, and it did not improve adverse social impact perceptions. This study contributes towards the strategic planning and management of more sustainable sports events through multiple interval social impact measurements.

An Assessment of Community Intervention for Reduction of Waterborne Illnesses in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Given the recent rise in the scarcity of clean drinking water in Pakistan and waterborne illnesses, a collaborative project between the Institute of Management Sciences (IMS) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, took place in the city of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The aim of the study was to reduce waterborne illnesses by building knowledge and capacity of the communities to enable them to have clean drinking water without incurring high financial costs. A number of awareness seminars, along with health educational material, were delivered to the community through educational institutes. To analyse the effectiveness of the intervention, a pre-project and post-intervention phase through knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) analysis was conducted to quantify the perceptions and knowledge of the community. The analysis showed that knowledge about waterborne illnesses increased from 52% to 87%, attitude change moved from 16% to 93%, whereas improvement in practices by adopting low cost measures for clean water increased from 15% to 68%. It can be concluded that awareness has positive impact on peoples’ behaviour, knowledge and practice, especially when educational institutes are actively involved in community uplift projects. Effectiveness of such initiatives can be assured by widening their scope with involvement of government and non-government agencies as they play a pivotal role in social uplift of communities. 

‘We Got Our Quota’

Examining the oral histories of black women teachers, this article explores the ways in which black women’s workplace experiences in Ontario schools and, to a larger extent, broader Canadian society, influenced the development of their educational philosophies. Offering a critical lens towards Ontario’s education system, black female educators not only developed resistive pedagogies to cope with the isolation and discrimination they experienced as teachers, but also created strategies that allowed them to educate the children they were responsible to teach. These resistive pedagogies recognized and supported black experiences in Canada and were firmly rooted in their experiences as black women. By teaching black history within their classrooms, merging community uplift with schooling practice, and implementing strict guidelines and expectations for racialized students, black women worked to augment mainstream schooling practices to better serve students of various racial and cultural backgrounds.

Motivations and Paths to Becoming Faculty at Minority Serving Institutions

Drawing upon 15 qualitative interviews with early- to mid-career faculty (seven men and eight women) at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), this study examines the diverse motivations and paths those faculty members have taken to becoming professors at their respective institutions. The faculty come from a range of MSIs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, and Predominantly Black Institutions) across the country and represent a broad spectrum of disciplines. This study sheds light on factors that guide their choices of discipline and entrance into the faculty ranks at MSIs. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was used as a lens during qualitative coding and analysis in order to develop the findings, which reveal that (1) teaching, activism, and community uplift were primary motivators to enter the professoriate; (2) supportive environmental factors, including single individuals, proved pivotal in influencing faculty to take these roles; and (3) career transitions into the academy were spurred by learning experiences that revealed disciplinary and teaching interests. The findings suggest that MSIs attract community-oriented individuals to their faculty positions, and that colleges and universities interested in diversifying their faculties should craft such roles in ways that are appealing to the populations that they are trying to recruit and retain.

Perspectives on corporate social responsibility as a route to citizen empowerment

ABSTRACTThe integration of corporate social responsibility in existing government-funded projects geared towards community upliftment is fundamental for the restoration of humanity. The study aims to untangle the intricacies by the citizens in imposing support from government-funded projects while significantly aiming to contribute towards policy considerations, enterprises, institutions and communities. The study was approached from a case study perspective. The lessons from the case study will be integrated and synthesised within the content analytical framework. The findings from the literature review demonstrated that citizen empowerment is a critical factor that could contribute to enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of goods and services. The study recommends that there is a need for a clear regulatory framework for corporate social responsibility in the public sector. This original article contributes to the body of knowledge within the development context and public policy.

The Indian Experience as a Swahili Mirror in Colonial Mombasa

People of Indian descent had long interacted with the Swahili of East Africa. This interrelationship became particularly momentous during British colonial rule that gave additional impetus to Indian migration to East Africa. In time East Africa, in general, and Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city, in particular, became home to significant populations of Indian settler communities. Motivated by an immigrant psychology and relatively privileged status under colonial rule, Indian immigrants took full advantage of the opportunities to become remarkably successful socially and economically. Local inhabitants were fully aware of the success of Indian immigrants of East Africa, and for some of them, the Indian record became a yard stick for their own successes and failures. Among these was Sheikh Al-Amin bin Ali Mazrui (1891-1947), famed for his reformist ideas about East African Islam. Using his Swahili periodical, Swahifa, he tried to galvanize members of Swahili-Muslim community towards the goal of community uplift by drawing on the experiences of East African Indians as a way of referring them back to some of the fundamentals of a progressive Islamic civilization in matters of the economy, education, and cultural preservation. In this sense, the East African Indian “mirror” became an important means of propagating Sheikh Al-Amin’s agenda of an alternative modernity rooted in Islamic civilization.

Indian CSR - Is It Different from Western?

Business and industry play a crucial role in the social and economic development of a country. Businesses are not responsible for solving all social problems. However, at the level of direct responsibility they should avoid causing problems and act to solve the problems they cause. CSR is an organization’s moral responsibility to stakeholder groups that are affected by the organization’s actions. CSR has evolved over the years with Social Responsibilities of Businessmen in the 50s and 60s. The 70s saw the Enlightened Self-Interest, while the 80s saw the Corporate Social Performance Model. In the 90s CSR was developed as part of Corporate Strategy while the last decade saw the convergence between the concepts of CSR and corporate performance occurring in both directions. It is often taken for granted that people from different cultures think in the same or similar ways. In fact, difficulty in intercultural communication often arises for those involved using different structures of reasoning. The Indian society is a multi strata society, wherein several socio-economic variables influence the perception and attitude of the people. Business ethics is not unknown to India as India has been practicing it from time immemorial. The fundamentals of Business ethics can be traced back to the religions. Three distinctive features of Indian philanthropy are (a) it is largely a story of Indian businessmen (b) it is a story of indigenous rather than expatriate business and (c) philanthropy is largely a story of family businesses as in most of Asia. At the same time driving forces, such as religious beliefs and sentiments associated with capital accumulation, industrial wealth and the resultant social consequences, hold true for India like the West. Again in India the CSR has evolve through four models of Ethical Model, Statist Model, Liberal Model and Stakeholder Model.The ideology of corporate social responsibility in India does not strictly distinguish primary and secondary stakeholders in according priority to stakeholder issues. Only few companies and business groups have taken a lead in promoting CSR in India. Based on the empirical study by stratified sampling of 389 respondents from Tamilnadu, one of the progressive states of India, the author has identified the Community upliftment, Education, Environment, Health Related, Children& Women, Human Rights and Employment of the Disabled as the priority areas compared to the priority areas of western as seen by Indians as Directly Involved in Social work, Disclosure Policy, Attempt to reduce environmental Impact and Consider Potential Environmental impacts. Using Discriminant analysis the research revealed that the Indian CSR is different from the Western CSR.

Rehabilitating mussel beds in Coffee Bay, South Africa: Towards fostering cooperative small-scale fisheries governance and enabling community upliftment.

Along the coast of South Africa, marine resources play a significant role in supporting livelihoods and contributing to food security in impoverished rural communities. Post-apartheid fisheries laws and policies have begun to address traditional fishing rights and development needs, and new management arrangements are being implemented. One such initiative has been the Mussel Rehabilitation Project in Coffee Bay, which piloted a resource rehabilitation technique at several over-exploited fishing sites. Mussel stocks in these exploited areas had dropped to under 1% mussel cover, and during the project period, stocks increased to>80% cover, supporting a sustainable harvest well above national daily bag limits. This stock enhancement was achieved only after the project had started to address social challenges such as the lack of local management institutions and the need to enhance food security. The project embarked on training and institution-building; it formed a robust community mussel management committee; and developed a local resource management plan, facilitating increased community participation in the day-to-day management of the resource. The project also saw the initiation of various ancillary projects aimed at improving food security and stimulating the local economy and hence alleviating pressure on the marine resources. Here we review this 10-year project's outcomes, and present lessons for small-scale fisheries governance in South Africa and internationally. We show, through empirical experience, that balancing stock rebuilding needs in a context of widespread poverty and dependency on natural resources by a local fisher community can only be addressed through an integrated approach to development. Participation of resource users and a thorough understanding of the local context are imperative to negotiating appropriate small-scale fisheries governance approaches. We recommend that the implementation of South Africa's newly minted Small-Scale Fisheries Policy should begin with bottom-up, demonstrative resource management measures such as mussel rehabilitation. This type of initiative can deliver short-term food security benefits and foster social learning towards sustainable and cooperative fisheries governance.

Training Need Assesment of Members of Farmer Producer Organisation and Producer Companies in India with Reference to Pune District

The intervention and role of farmer producer organizations has been acknowledged as crucial for upliftment of agrarian community who are facing various challenges such as decreased land holdings, globalization, unpredictable weather conditions due to global warming, less value realization of agro produce to name a few. Inspite of the government vision for these producer companies are in many places observed to be struggling. The sustainability and business viability of these producer companies are in doubt and hence it is believed that training intervention shall help them to overcome these problems by offering certain training interventions. This study is an attempt to identify the training needs and gaps in the existing training modules. It is observed that though the respondents have expressed their satisfaction regarding training intervention in areas such as post harvest technology and market led extension but at the same time the respondent training needs for productivity enhancement, socio economic sustainability, linkages, compliances and monitoring cannot be ignored and needs to be addressed. Further as revealed by the study more than the demographic attributes prior training experiences exert an influence on the training assessment and hence need to be considered while designing the appropriate training moduls.

Black Nationalist Tendencies and Their Association with Perceived Inefficacy of the Civil Rights Movement and of Black Elected Officials

This study addressed whether black nationalist tendencies explain why some blacks in 1980 perceived that the civil rights movement and black elected officials failed to improve the black community’s standing, including their own life chances. Those holding positions consistent with black nationalism argue, among other things, that racial integration, political participation, and alignment with white interests could not ultimately produce racial parity. Instead, they support (cultural, social, economic, and political) separatism, constant vigilance, and community uplift as tactics for engineering racial parity. Using data from a nationally representative survey of the black population collected 35 years ago, the authors measured black nationalist tendencies using six indicators: (1) agreement that blacks should vote for black candidates, (2) agreement that blacks should shop in black-owned stores, (3) agreement that black men should not date white women, (4) support for forming a black political party, (5) the presence of black literature and/or art in respondents’ homes, and (6) a sense of common fate. The authors found that these indicators associated significantly with perceived inefficacy of the civil rights movement and of black elected officials. However, the associations’ directions and strength often varied appreciably. The authors call for future research that characterizes black nationalist tendencies and investigates their contemporary interpersonal and sociopolitical implications.

Embracing Family Diversity through Transformative Educational Leadership, the Ethics of Care, and Community Uplift in Schools

This conceptual paper extends the understanding and application of transformative leadership through the lens of a feminist ethic of care and a community-centric perspective. The authors re-examine the transformative leadership style in relation to the emerging alternative family structures in the United States. The authors also consider the need for a novel transformative leadership approach that infuses the ethics of care to formulate new policies and practices. Finally, the authors provide recommendations for future research that promote care and justice as transformative leadership attributes in diverse school communities. This conceptualization brings community to the forefront of stronger school–community relations.

Romeo and Juliet dir. by Mike Peebler and John Walcutt, and: Four Clowns presents Hamlet dir. by Turner Munch (review)

Reviewed by: Romeo and Julietdir. by Mike Peebler and John Walcutt, and: Four Clowns presents Hamletdir. by Turner Munch John Miller Romeo and JulietPresented by Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County, Garden Grove, California. 07 2– 08 1, 2015. Directed by Mike Peebler and John Walcutt. Set design by Michael Drace Fountain. Lighting and sound by William and Jennifer Georges. Costumes by Sean McMullen. Folkloric dancing by Relámpago del Cielo. With Peter Gil Chang (Montague), Stefano Della Pietra (Benvolio), Ramón de Ocampo (Romeo), Michael Drace Fountain (Prince Escalus), Bo Foxworth (Mercutio), Jason Gearlds (Gregory), Tess Lina (Lady Capulet), Michael Nehring (Friar Laurence), Young Hye Son (Lady Montague), Nikki SooHoo (Juliet), Pedro Villareal (Capulet), Jay Wallace (Tybalt), David Warschol (Paris), and John Robert Ziegler (Sampson). Four Clowns presents HamletPresented by Four Clownsat Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. 09 18– 10 10, 2015. Adapted and directed by Turner Munch. Stage managed by Ashley Jo Navarro. Costume, hair, and makeup by Elena Flores. Lighting design by Mcleod Benson. Set and props by Alexandra Giron. Technical direction by Matt MacCready. Production managed by Julianna Stephanie Ojeda. Fight choreography by Matt Franta. With Tyler Bremer (Guildenstern), Charlotte Chanler (Gertrude), Joe DeSoto (Ghost and Laertes), Andrew Eiden (Hamlet), Scotty Farris (Polonius), Elizabeth Godly (Ophelia), Dave Honigman (Rosencrantz), Corey Johnson (Claudius), and Connor Kelly-Eiding (Horatio). [End Page 146] Romeo and Juliethas always seemed both an obvious and an odd choice to introduce American high school freshmen to Shakespeare. Yes, it revolves around teenagers, but teenagers heroicized for defying authority, making bad choices, and finally killing themselves. And their parents are even worse. Similarly, the play seemed both to suit and to subvert Shakespeare Orange County’s declared mission “to use theatre to build bridges between generations and the 76 languages spoken in our community” (“Shakespeare Orange County,” Shakespeare Theatre Home, STAHome.org). As a community event, the production nicely incorporated local diversity, both on the stage and in the audience. As an interpretation of Shakespeare’s play, the multicultural project did discover some insightful and inventive moments, but the intended message of community uplift often stumbled over the play’s tragic view of the forces that tear at communities and families. The tag line on the poster for the show—“Your Friends. Your Kids. Your Town”—neatly suggested how easily Verona (as Leonard Bernstein and Baz Luhrmann have shown) might be translated into an ethnically and culturally diverse contemporary urban setting. The casting suggested these complexities without crudely representing the Capulets and Montagues as rival gangs. Romeo’s parents, Juliet’s mother, and Juliet herself were played by Asian American actors, while Romeo and Capulet were played by actors with Hispanic surnames; the customs and costumes of both families suggested a mixing but not a blurring of cultures. Another way to involve the community in a production is to include large numbers of the community in the cast; the program listed fifty-six cast members, not including the twenty-four folkloric dancers who performed at intervals throughout, helping to stretch the performance to nearly three and a half hours. Many of the ensemble performers were talented high school students from the Orange County School for the Performing Arts; doubtless this had something to do with the production’s success in bringing a larger, younger, and more diverse audience to the theater than in past seasons. The show began with a kind of community talent show: singers and dancers representing distinctive cultural traditions performed as the audience was seated, while the cast cheered them on from the sides of the stage. Well after the announced curtain time, the emcee finally welcomed the audience and was just pointing out the exits when he was interrupted by Gregory and Sampson entering loudly down the aisles, dispersing the communal good feelings. Unfortunately, as is too often the case at this outdoor venue with no amplification, the actors felt the need to shout their lines so loudly that it was difficult to understand what they were saying, and the rest of the first scene played out as a bit of a muddle. [End Page 147] Several scenes that are dialogues in Shakespeare...

Staphylococcus aureus: An Emergent Cause of Bovine Mastitis in India - A Review

Mastitis is the inflammation of the mammary gland and it is one of the most important resisting factors for the upliftment of rural community by directly influencing their economy. Milk yield is the most compromising and severely affected parameter in this regard. In India Staphylococcus aureus is the key causative agent for mastitis and responsible for sub-clinical cases although it is also responsible for different forms of the disease. In the present time where prompt diagnosis and treatment is available for mastitis, treatment failure due to antibiotic resistance creates a bizarre in this case. Proper strategy, preventive measures and well awareness will be helpful for alleviating the situation and minimizing the economic losses to certain degree.

Production, Assessment and Marketing of Lichens for Economic Upliftment and Livelihood Generation of Rural Communities in Kumaun Himalaya

Collection of lichen together with tree twigs of oak and other trees bearing abundant growth of lichens is a common practice among the villagers and the rivals residing near Oak forests in Kumaun Himalaya. Nainital forest division represents about Twenty nine percent vegetation of the Oak forest in Kumaun Himalaya. In Kumaun, the lichen trade share is decreasing at an alarming rate of 21.93% which requires immediate actions by the Government. Lichen contributed significantly to household earnings with off-farm activities and this sector was found second highest income creator after Agriculture. It is a source of cash income during the season of extraction, which increases economic access to food. It has been observed in the present study that the secondary collector and transporters together get maximum share (>50%) of income generated from lichen, thus economic exploitation of the poorly educated people by the traders was still prevalent in the area. To improve the socio-economic standard of the people of Kumaun, it may is necessary to increase and improve the lichens resources of the area. There is a strong need for scientific management, best harvesting practices and strict monitoring of resources. The present study was conducted to assess the present and future resource potential for the conservation and sustainable management of lichens, existing market mechanism, role of Lichens in economic upliftment and livelihood generation of rural communities in Kumaun Himalaya.

Advancement staff and alumni advocates: Cultivating LGBTQ alumni by promoting individual and community uplift.

Advancement staff and alumni advocates: Cultivating LGBTQ alumni by promoting individual and community uplift.

“Returning Home to Our Rightful Place”: The Nation of Islam and Muhammad Farms

This paper demonstrates how the Nation of Islam (NOI), a well known black nationalist organization, is utilizing notions of community to promote the activities and goals of its farm to other black people. The NOI owns Muhammad Farms in rural southern Georgia, USA. Its stated purpose is to feed all black people in the United States. Historically, the NOI has occupied a radical space in the black community by promoting black separatism. I argue that while its stance on separatism has not changed, discourse about Muhammad Farms appeals to more generalized notions of community uplift and self-determination, key components of black community nationalism. The NOI employs these discursive strategies to rally other black people around their message. I utilize archival and textual research along with critical discourse analysis to unpack this dialectical relationship between black racial identity and the farm. I claim that the NOI utilizes and creates black information networks in part to control knowledge disseminated about the farm. They are retelling black agrarian history in a way that mixes fact, fiction and shock value. Validation from others, mainly white people is antithetical to the NOI’s black nationalist principles. Ultimately the organization seeks to recreate the farm as a landscape of liberation that includes tragedy, triumph and hope for the future. The NOI presents Muhammad Farms as a symbol and example of the possibilities if black people return to the farm. Muhammad Farms also serves as a living memorial to black agrarian history.