(Owensboro, KY) On Thursday, June 28, 2007, farmers and activists made
history by conducting an interracial protest in front of the Federal
Building in downtown Owensboro. Farm supporters and civil rights
activists from as far away as Michigan drove over a thousand miles to
join an African-American farmer, Harry Young, as he continues his
protest of what he says is an illegal foreclosure and sale of his
land.

Young was the last black farmer in three western Kentucky counties.
His land contains as much as $750,000,000 in coal reserves and it was
sold in a disputed sale 2 years ago. The Farm Services Administration
claimed he hadn't paid on his loan in 25 years, a claim which Young
disputes. He also says he has signed receipts from the agency showing
payment.

Young says the media is ignoring his situation. The historic alliance
between black and white farmers was totally ignored by the majority
media, including the newspaper that had reporters on site to cover
another injustice to Kentucky minorities and farmers--the confiscation
of thousands of Kentucky farmland for a military base during World War
Two, and the ongoing class action lawsuit which it spawned. The
newspaper has reportedly refused to publish additional letters to the
editor from Young about the injustices which he faces.

Thousands of press releases were sent to media world wide, including
several that were sent to local media. The only known broadcast media
coverage of the event was provided by the lone black owned radio
station in the market. The situation is a prime example of why
minority owned media, ethinic and minority reporters and ethnic
publications, books and literature provided a priceless contribution to
American democracy.

The plight of family farmers, particularly black farmers and the
terrible history of lynching for land and land loss is examined by a
distant cousin of Mr. Young's in a new book, Land, Legacy and Lynching:
Building the Future in Black America, available from Lulu Press.

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Full Name : Monica Davis