Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-343).

Foreword / by Natalie Baszile -- Introduction / by Dr. Analena Hope Hassberg -- Those winter Sundays / by Robert Hayden -- Everyone beneath their own vine and fig tree : a remembering in seven parts / by Michael Twitty -- Handed the rain / by Ed Roberson -- Writing Queen Sugar / by Natalie Baszile -- Excerpt from Black and White: the way I see it / by Richard Williams -- Resilience and reinvention / with Stanley Hughes and Linda Leach -- Little farm, big dreams / with Kamal Bell -- Black to the land / by Leah Penniman -- Cutting greens / by Lucille Clifton -- The last plantation : the USDA's racist operation system / by Pete Daniel -- Father and daughter / with Harper and Ashley Armstrong -- To the fig tree on 9th and Christian / by Ross Gay -- On top of Moon Mountain / with Brenae Royal -- Money talk / with Clif Sutton and Dexter Faison -- Barking / by Lenard D. Moore -- Dispossessed : their family bought land one generation after slavery. The Reels brothers spent eight years in jail for refusing to leave it / by Lizzie Presser -- Louisiana daughters : a conversation with Lalita Tademy and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton -- Queen Sugar, Chapter 10 / by Natalie Baszile -- Frame / by Robin Coste Lewis -- America at the crossroads : a history of enslavement and land /by Clyde Ford -- Field Day at the Hill Place / with Odis Hill -- Equal ground / with Willie Earl Nelson Sr. and sons -- Fearless / by Tim Seibles -- Four days in Alaskan Farm School / with Melony Edwards -- No better life / with the Blueforts -- Ancestral vibrations guide our connection to the land / by Jim Embry -- Remember / by Joy Harjo -- Family ties / with Esmeralda and Antonio Sandoval -- How to make rain / by Kevin Young -- Miss Rose's dirty rice / by Natalie Baszile -- A new country / with Dorcas Young -- Raised and rooted / with Deric Harper -- Making space / with Moretta Browne -- Call me by my name / by Harryette Mullen -- Wheel of fortune / with Martha Calderon -- Exceeding the "yes" / with Marvin Frink -- Swarm / by Tonya Foster -- A brief history of tobacco / by Natalie Baszile -- After tobacco / with the Wrights -- Yellowjackets / by Yusef Komunyakaa -- Home games / with Kellye Walker and Werten Bellamy -- Butter / by Elizabeth Alexander -- A love letter to future generations / by Naima Penniman -- Inside Queen Sugar: Jason Wilborn reflects of his years in the Queen Sugar Writer's Room / by Natalie Baszile -- The Boudin Trail / by Natalie Baszile -- Black Harvest Fund.

"In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people's connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers' personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The Returning Generation--young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations."-- Publisher's description.