SPIRIT.

The Spirit in Our Roots is a multi-generational land-based initiative addressing food, racial, and environmental injustice in rural Mississippi and Louisiana. This multimedia project documents the challenges, grief, and joy of local black farmers, growers, and land stewards as they fight to create more just and equitable communities. Recipes, storytelling, and image creation are used to build and amply the voice of community members as a collective body.

Through the revival of African and African American folk growing traditions—alongside contemporary agricultural practices—we work to strengthen predominantly Black communities. Our mission is to address food insecurity and racial injustice through community-centered cultivation, storytelling, and healing.

By reconnecting with land and ancestral knowledge, we hope to foster communal healing and support the emergence of a resilient network of growers committed to food justice and environmental stewardship across Mississippi.

The Spirit in Our Roots is directed by Nana Kumi. Thank you for the support of our partners The National Performance Network for selecting Spirit as a recipient of the Southern Artist for Social Change Grant and the Documentation and Storytelling Fund.