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John Wesley Boyd Jr. (born September 4, 1965) is an African-American farmer, civil rights activist and the founder of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA).
John Boyd | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Wesley Boyd Jr. September 4, 1965 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | John Wesley Boyd III, Sydni-Faith Boyd |
| Education | Southside Virginia Community College Clemson University |
| Website | johnboydjr |
He owns and operates Boyd Farms, which has 1,500-acre (6.1 km2)[1] across three farms in Baskerville, Virginia where he grows soybean, corn and wheat and currently raises one hundred and fifty 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.[2][additional citation(s) needed]
Career
editBoyd 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Prior to that, he was appointed by then-Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore to serve on the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.[3] His term lasted from July 1, 1999, until June 30, 2001.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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."[citation needed]
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."[4]
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.[citation needed] 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."[5]
National attention
editBoyd was named ABC World News Tonight's Person of the Week on Friday, November 21, 2003.[citation needed] The next year he was featured in the CBS Evening News Eye on America report.[6] 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[7] several times.[citation needed] He has been featured in Jet magazine numerous times.[citation needed]
Boyd was vetted to be a contender to serve in President Obama's Cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture in President Barack Obama's cabinet.[8] Early in the process, Congressional Quarterly (CQ) reported that some members of the Congressional Black Caucus had thrown their support to Boyd.[9] However, the position ultimately went to Tom Vilsack of Iowa.
In August 2022, Boyd appeared on "Fox & Friends First", where he discussed the crisis facing America's black farmers and what he deemed the Biden administration's failure to address their issues.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Why are Black farmers like John Boyd Jr. Awaiting billions of dollars in promised debt relief?". 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Black Farmers Accuse Agriculture Dept. of Failing to Live Up to Racial Bias Settlement" The New York Times (2004)
- ^ State of Virginia Bill Tracking Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Obama signs measure funding black farmers settlement", CNN.com (2010)
- ^ "NPR.org » Senate Funds Black Farmers, Native American Settlements". M.npr.org. 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
- ^ CBSnews.com (2004)
- ^ Ebony (2003) Archived 2009-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Another Name Surfaces as Possible New Ag Secretary: John Boyd". 14 November 2008.
- ^ "Head of Black Farmers’ Group Is Potential Pick for Agriculture Secretary" CQ Politics (2008) Archived 2008-11-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hill, Bailee (2022-08-18). "National Black Farmers president feels betrayed by Biden, Schumer: 'We're in a crisis'". Fox News. Retrieved 2022-08-21.