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The Great Migration, sometimes called the Black Migration, was the movement of six million African Americans from the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1910 and 1970.
The Great Migration was due to Jim Crow laws that perpetuated and enforced racial harassment, segregation, and discrimination. Black farmers were forced to give up their land, property, and homes and move North.
Amanda David’s maternal grandparents were driven from their South Carolina farm and forced to move to Elmira, New York, where she grew up. However, David’s grandparents never lost their connection to the Earth and passed this along to David, who was born with an affinity for nature.
“As a kid, I was always outside, mixing potions, listening to the birds, and watching the deer. We lived near a river, where I always hung out. From a very young age, something in me always felt very connected to being outside. It felt comfortable.”
Both sets of David’s grandparents fostered her respect and love for nature; her maternal grandfather hunted and fished, while her paternal grandfather maintained a garden where David and her father assisted on their land in New York.
Creating a Safe Space on Land in New York
David’s journey toward understanding and appreciating nature began with a deepening interest in agriculture, farming, and herbalism. Driven to reconnect Black and Brown people with ancestral land-based knowledge, she immersed herself in formal education and hands-on experience.
“Right after high school, I dove into farming, starting with migrant work across the country,” David explains. “These experiences, coupled with apprenticeships on organic farms and herbalist studies, formed the backbone of my knowledge. But it’s not just about book learning. Spending time with plants and observing their behavior has been invaluable. It’s like they have stories to tell. However, I’m cautious about making definitive claims based solely on observation. Research is crucial to ensure the information I share is accurate and safe.”
In 2020, David and her three children moved into their current residence in Brooktondale, New York, just 45 minutes from where she grew up. Once there, she expanded her herbal medicine business, Rootwork Herbals, by establishing a community garden on her property and land in New York.
Spanning an acre and a half, it features community beds for medicinal herbs and food, individual beds for community members, a teaching pavilion, a cabin for making and distributing free medicine, and livestock such as Nigerian dwarf goats and hens.
The community garden is open to Black, Indigenous, and people of color members, and David creates specific events open to the wider community. “It’s a powerful way to unite people and build community,” David says.
“The community we’ve been blessed to build around the gardens feels like the solution to many problems we face within colonial structures. Structures designed to separate us from each other, the land, and our power. But I believe that being on the land, in community with others, is how we’ll figure it out.”
Remembering and Connecting With Our Roots
Rootwork, also known as hoodoo or conjure, is a traditional African American folk magic practice that originated in the antebellum South. It was brought to the American Colonies during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and blended African, Native American and European concepts.
Rootwork centers on ancestor veneration, justice, and botanical healing, a practice David has utilized for most of her life. “My ancestral connection to the earth and growing food and medicine drives my commitment to helping Black and Brown people reclaim this knowledge, which was intentionally taken from us. When I first got into agriculture and herbalism, I often found myself in predominantly white spaces where I didn’t feel comfortable or connected. Since then, I have focused on creating pathways to help us remember and reconnect with our roots.”
When purchasing the house, David said the previous owners warned her about one of the neighbors, a retired white man. According to David, the issues with the neighbor started immediately, with him wandering onto her property and interrogating her with microaggressions and racist harassment.
“He constantly came onto our land, making inappropriate and racially insensitive remarks. The previous owner was Chinese, and he would make offensive comments about them. As a single mother, he’d make assumptions, questioning how I could afford to live there, implying I must have had a wealthy husband or received a lot of child support.”
The neighbor’s unwanted presence forced David to put up a privacy fence around her land in New York, which she says really set him off. He would repeatedly pull out the land surveyor stakes, and once the fence started going up, he would come over and hurl racist abuse at David and the construction workers.
“The workers were lovely and just ignored him,” David says. “They didn’t want to upset me. But eventually, the neighbor’s language and daily presence got so bad that they pulled me aside and said, ‘We need to tell you what’s going on every day we’re working. He’s out here just talking horribly about you and calling you slurs repeatedly.’”
The neighbor’s racist harassment and abuse continued toward David, her children, and the Rootwork Herbals community members. “He threatened to beat my son with a stick. He removed sections of the fence, but he’s constantly yelling at us and even shooting out a security light on our property. He puts up signs pointing to our house, saying all sorts of racist and nasty things.”
She continues, “Our car and fence were both vandalized several times. We’ve had so many unprovoked interactions with him—at ten in the morning, eleven at night, three in the afternoon, eight in the evening—and it’s clear he has a substance abuse problem with alcohol. It’s a sad situation, but it’s also frightening. It’s like the perfect storm for someone like him to act the way he does; he’s alone, seemingly without any community or family support, retired, and often drinking all day. It’s been a nightmare.”
No Justice, No Peace
Worst yet is the effect his racism is having on David’s children. “I think about their upbringing over these past nearly four years, and it’s been challenging. My two older boys try to be strong, but this environment has impacted them. Whenever incidents occur, they express the urgency to leave. They’re quick to pull out their phones and record whenever something happens. Everyone’s on alert.
“I think the most noticeable impact has been on my daughter, though. She’s been dealing with this since she was eight years old, enduring racial slurs and so much abusive yelling. She feels unsafe and will not go outside, into her yard, alone. We’ve had incidents where she had to gather younger children to shield them from yelling. While sadly not unexpected for Black people in this country, it’s not how you want your children’s formative years to unfold.”
David said despite multiple calls to the police, several arrests, and an order of protection, the justice system has failed to protect her family.
“Out of all the times the cops have been called, there have been very few who seemed like they truly wanted to help,” she says. Several times, the police showed up and asked me what I wanted them to do about it. One even insinuated that my neighbor’s abuse was my fault. I’ve been told multiple times that he can yell anything he wants, and it’s not harassment unless he says my name.
“ I don’t know what else to do because there are no consequences for this man. After he shot out our security light, he got his firearms taken away during the arrest, but after his court appearance, they were returned.”
“The community we’ve been blessed to build around the gardens feels like the solution to many problems we face within colonial structures. Structures designed to separate us from each other, the land, and our power. But I believe that being on the land, in community with others, is how we’ll figure it out.”
Who Gave Those Back?
“The local Caroline Town Court Judge allowed him to have his weapons back after he pled guilty. I thought the assistant district attorney (A.D.A.), Andrew Kelly, who was working on the case, would be helpful, but he gave the neighbor a plea deal after he was charged with shooting my lights out,” shares David.
“When dealing with the neighbor, the A.D.A. tells me, ‘Next time, we’ll get him.’ Then, the next time, he gets a slap on the wrist. I know the police and legal system are part of a larger colonial structure that doesn’t serve Black people. It’s clear when we see police killing us with no consequences, so I understand these systems weren’t made for me. But even on a local level, it’s still shocking and disappointing to see it play out. Watching these systems fail repeatedly in a small town where I know the people involved is frustrating, even when there’s clear evidence of wrongdoing. It’s both expected and heartbreaking.”
Time to Move On For Healing
Due to the A.D.A.’s lackluster performance in upholding justice and the local police department’s claim that the neighbor is not legally harassing her, David has shut down part of the community garden and is gathering funds to move.
“It’s hard because I love this land and what we do here, but I can’t stay because my livelihood is threatened. I can’t teach classes, hold gatherings, or enjoy the garden because the neighbor hurls racist abuse at us. Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary and escape from the world’s difficulties. There’s no real escape because it’s constantly happening next door. Black parents expect that, at some point, their kids will be called a racial slur while they’re out. You bring them home, talk to them, and care for them. But when it continues happening for years as they grow up, it’s just so horrifying. The effects of this are still unfolding, and it’s hard to know how it will shape them into adulthood.”
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Community Support Makes a Difference
David contacted organizations and found support from Central New York Fair Housing (CNYFH) in hopes of covering some of her expenses and losses. They are taking her case as a civil matter for racial harassment and civil rights violations because criminal charges would have to go through the district attorney.
For now, David has upped her security system and installed more cameras and lights. Her supporters have also started a GoFundMe to help relocate her family and have engaged with local representatives to put pressure on the D.A. and police. David praises her community members for their support throughout all this.
“I honestly don’t know where I would be without this group,” she says. “It started as a rapid response team, so whenever something happened—if I was feeling unsafe, had to call the police, or just needed someone to be ready in case things escalated—they would show up. Countless times, I put out a call, and people came through. Whether being with me when the police arrived or just being there when he was acting scary, they’ve always been supportive.”
She continues, “Over time, the group expanded its role beyond rapid response. They began attending every court date, ensuring people knew I had support. They took notes, contacted the DA to question the lack of consequences and much more. Now, they’re helping spread the word about the fundraiser and responding to less-than-favorable local newspaper articles.
“They’ve done everything possible to bring as much safety and support as possible. It’s beautiful and amazing but challenging because we work with limited resources. Everyone has their own responsibilities and lives, and while we’re all doing our best, it’s tough to sustain. This group has supported me for three years, and it’s becoming harder to keep going.”
The GoFundMe is set up for moving costs, aiming for $200,000. “I actually need significantly more than that to make it feasible, but that’s our goal for now,” she says. With $100,000 raised from over 950 donors in three weeks, David is “blown away” by the support.
Most donations were small, but one generous person gave $18,000. “It was incredible,” she says, adding that young people donating $5 or $10 is “precious and really sweet.” They’re urgently raising funds to relocate to a property with land in New York that could serve the garden, though it needs significant work to meet the needs of David’s family and business. “We’re doing our best to raise the money, get to safety, and continue our programming and work.”
For protection and resilience, David relies on community support and ancestral practices. “Having a therapist, too,” she says. “Connection and calling on protection from my ancestors who have survived this and more. I’m experiencing just a small piece of what they faced on their land in South Carolina, where the acts of racism were more intense and far more widespread. Living through this experience has given me a visceral empathy for what my ancestors, and so many other displaced people, have gone through.”
Despite the challenges, David remains committed to her work and hopes to support others facing similar situations. She aims to create safe spaces for BIPOC communities to connect with the land.
“On a positive note, the incredible support from my community, both near and far, has given me hope that this situation can change. As terrible as it is, I’m determined to turn it into something positive. It inspired me to keep working to create safe spaces for Black and Brown people on the land,” she says.
This experience has only proven how crucial that work is and has invigorated me to do even more. I also want to support others going through similar situations. This isn’t an isolated incident—it’s happening nationwide, and I know how isolating it can feel. I want to build a network of care so people know they’re not alone and understand the avenues they can take, legally and within the community, to move through and beyond it.”
Visit Amanda David’s website for Rootwork Herbals to learn more about her work and how you can support her. To make a donation that will go towards helping her relocate, visit the GoFundMe page.
