It was 1968, and I was an 11-year-old white boy in Appalachian Virginia imagining I was Hank Aaron. Home from school for the summer, a small group of us gathered for mornings in our backyard to play Whiffle ball — with a plastic bat and ball, and bases made from scraps of wood. A forsythia […]
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Farm Aid Book Review: Going Over Home
Originally published in Farm Aid
In 2014, as Farm Aid planted the seeds for our first festival in North Carolina, we were introduced to documentary filmmaker Charles D. Thompson, Jr. From our first conversation, it was abundantly clear that Charlie’s life experience—as a storyteller, farmer, farm and rural advocate, and social and racial justice advocate—was perfect for understanding a huge […]
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The Disappearing Landscape of Family Farms
Originally aired by WVTF
It wasn’t that long ago that one of every three people in this country were farmers. But over the last century small farming has been almost entirely replaced by agri-business, land development and better paying jobs in practically every other industry. Farmer, activist, and educator Charlie Thompson grew up in southwest Virginia amid a disappearing […]
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New Mural Honors NC Farmworkers
This fall, the painting studio at the Rubenstein Arts Center was transformed by students in Charlie Thompson’s class “Farmworkers in North Carolina” and local Durham artist Cornelio Campos. During their arts project residency, students and Campos collaborated to create a mural inspired by their research of farmworkers in the Durham area. Duke CAST member Ilona Stanback […]
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Reinventing life in rural America
(Video) Duke professor Charlie Thompson discusses the decline of rural America and how small towns can use their own resources and strengths to rebound.
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