Conservationists See Rare Nature Sanctuaries. Black Farmers See a Legacy Bought Out From Under Them.
Tony Briscoe, photography by Rashod Taylor, special to ProPublica (Oct. 14, 2021)
Ward remembers a time when much of Sweet Fern Savanna belonged to Black farmers, including him. Peering beyond the barbed wire fencing and signs threatening to prosecute trespassers, he could see the patch of land where he once grew soybeans. The small patch of land — two adjacent parcels, totaling 3 acres — represented a chance for him to carry on a family legacy that extends back 60 years in Pembroke. Ill and unemployed, Ward lost his properties after he failed to pay $1,511.40 in taxes; they were purchased about a decade ago at county auctions by the preserve’s owner, an 85-year-old conservationist from Chicago’s south suburbs.
“How did they get all of this?” Ward wondered aloud.