John Boyd (farmer)

John Wesley Boyd Jr. (born September 4, 1965) is a Baskerville, Virginia farmer, civil rights activist and the founder of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA). He owns and operates a 300-acre (1.2 km2) farm where he grows soybean, corn and wheat and currently raises a hundred head of beef cattle. For 14 years Boyd was a chicken farmer in a Perdue Farms breeder program. He was also a tobacco farmer for many years.[1]

John Boyd
Personal details
Born
John Wesley Boyd Jr.

(1965-09-04) September 4, 1965
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationSouthside Virginia Community College
Clemson University

Boyd is a fourth-generation farmer. He formed the National Black Farmers Association, a Virginia-based non-profit organization, in 1995. In 2000, Boyd was the Democratic nominee for election to Virginia's 5th congressional district running against independent incumbent Virgil Goode. Goode later became a Republican.

In his role with the National Black Farmers Association, Boyd has worked closely with national leaders in government, agriculture organizations and rural groups nationwide as well as internationally. Boyd was appointed by then-Virginia Governor-elect Tim Kaine to serve as co-chair of his Policy Committee on Agriculture and Forestry during the transition period. In 2000, Boyd was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on his administration's tobacco commission. Prior to that, he was appointed by then-Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore to serve on the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.[2] His term lasted from July 1, 1999 until June 30, 2001.

He was an early supporter of Senator Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and played an important role organizing African American voters in the critical South Carolina primary. During the primaries Boyd also organized supporters and spoke at events in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Boyd organized supporters and spoke at events for Obama in important battleground states during the general election including Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.

On July 7, 2008, Roll Call newspaper reported that Boyd was instrumental in "securing the biggest Congressional victory in history for black farmers, a $100 million line item in this year’s farm bill that effectively reopened the government’s discrimination settlement with black farmers."

After leading public rallies and an intensive NBFA member lobbying effort, Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2010 legislation that set aside $1.15 billion to resolve the outstanding Black farmers cases. Boyd attended the bill signing ceremony at the White House. Boyd said, "I don't think this is about the money. I think this is about justice."[3]

Boyd was quoted in the national press numerous times on the Cobell native American trust fund case. His work on that case, which was resolved when it was grouped with the Black farmers legislation, helped lead to a $3.4 billion legal settlement. He told National Public Radio in November 2010 that "This has been just a long struggle for the black farmers and for the Cobell case as well."[4]

National attention

Boyd was named ABC World News Tonight's Person of the Week on Friday, November 21, 2003. The next year he was featured in the CBS Evening News Eye on America report.[5] And he has appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes, Nightline, CNN and other television networks.

He has been named one of the "100 Most Influential Black Americans and Organization Leaders" by Ebony magazine[6] several times. He has been featured in Jet magazine numerous times.

Boyd was vetted to be a contender to serve in President Obama's Cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture in President Barack Obama's cabinet. Early in the process, Congressional Quarterly (CQ) reported that some members of the Congressional Black Caucus had thrown their support to Boyd.[7] However, the position ultimately went to Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

References
  1. "Black Farmers Accuse Agriculture Dept. of Failing to Live Up to Racial Bias Settlement" The New York Times (2004)
  2. State of Virginia Bill Tracking Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Obama signs measure funding black farmers settlement", CNN.com (2010) Archived 2012-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "NPR.org » Senate Funds Black Farmers, Native American Settlements". M.npr.org. 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  5. CBSnews.com (2004)
  6. Ebony (2003) Archived 2009-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Head of Black Farmers’ Group Is Potential Pick for Agriculture Secretary" CQ Politics (2008) Archived 2008-11-22 at the Wayback Machine
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