MANRRS, Bumpers College Hosting 'Gaining Ground' Film Screening, Panel Discussion

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P.J. Haynie, who is featured in the Gaining Ground film, will be part of the panel discussion following the screening.

A documentary screening and panel discussion for the entire U of A campus community is set for March 13 at the Jim & Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

Transcending Spaces: A Community Conversation of Gaining Ground, The Fight for Black Land & Panel Discussion includes the documentary from 4:30-6 p.m. and the panel conversation from 6-7 p.m.

Gaining Ground examines the causes, effects and what is being done to fight the exploitation of Heirs' Property law, and how landowners are reclaiming their agricultural legacy and creating paths to generational wealth.

The film covers the Heirs' Property law, the LEAP coalition, why Black land ownership is important, why land is important for food and infrastructure, and more.

It was directed by Eternal Polk, produced by Al Roker Entertainment and underwritten by Deere & Co. Since its festival screening in June, Gaining Ground has won seven awards.

Panel members include Deacue Fields, vice president for agriculture, U of A System Division of Agriculture; Ron Rainey, assistant vice president, UA System Division of Agriculture; P.J. Haynie, secretary of the National Black Growers Council, rice farmer in Arkansas and the primary farmer featured in the Gaining Ground film; Kesha Cobb, founder and CEO of Black Women in Ag; and Logan Moss, MANRRS graduate student in agricultural economics and agribusiness. The event will be moderated by Ayanna Bledsoe, director of inclusion and belonging, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

In college, Haynie was president of the MANRRS chapter at Virginia Tech University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural and applied economics in 1999. A fifth-generation farmer, he is owner of Haynie Farms, a transportation company, a timber harvesting company, and a landscaping and excavating company.

Haynie will speak about the struggle Black people often encounter in retaining ownership of their land and the resulting erosion of the Black agricultural legacy. He will also talk about his role in the film.

Transcending Spaces is sponsored by Bumpers College, U of A's MANRRS RSO — Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences — and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

MANRRS provides underrepresented students with academic support, networking and career development, and is open to anyone with an interest in promoting diversity in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences.

Transcending Spaces: A Community Conversation of Gaining Ground, The Fight for Black Land & Panel Discussion

• Wednesday, March 13, 4:30-7 p.m.
• Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center

The film is also being screened at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Friday, March 15, as part of the 65th Annual Rural Life Conference. The conference theme is “Legacy Opportunities for Community Service and Outreach – Connecting, Collaboration and Commitment.”

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.