For some, universal truths are still not universal. This stark reality was brought home to Slow Food Huron Valley board member, Kim Bayer, one morning this spring. On May 13, at the end of the workday, Kim and her crew at Slow Farm, her organic u-pick property on Whitmore Lake Road, put up a large Black Lives Matter sign visible from the road. It was a sturdy, heavy-duty sign, nearly four foot by eight, painted by one of her employees and framed, shellacked, and affixed to posts driven into the ground by the husband of another. This area outside Ann Arbor had hosted many Trump yard signs during the last election, so Kim, wary that all of her neighbors might not appreciate the sign’s message, trained a trail camera on the sign. Later that evening, around 9:30 p.m., two young men, white guys in a pick-up truck, purposefully stopped and whaled away at the sign until they broke it. The sign had been up five hours.
The next morning Kim reported the vandalism to the Washtenaw County sheriff, showing them the trail camera footage as evidence. The responding officers, however, weren’t hopeful of apprehending the perpetrators. In fact, because the actual monetary value of the sign wasn’t great, and there was no physical threat to an individual, the police weren’t likely to pursue the matter. M-Live, the local media, did cover the story, including stills from the footage in its article.
At Slow Farm, Kim grows an eclectic variety of vegetables and berries, augmenting the typical mix with crops appealing to Indian and other Asian customers, as well as those with southern roots. She sells wholesale, online, and through her u-pick trade. By making an effort, through her job application and hiring practices, to welcome and include diverse identities, Kim has attracted a staff as varied as her produce.
Last summer, during the protests that shook many American cities following the police killings of George Floyd and other black people, the crew at Slow Farm was united in its support of the BLM movement. Kim gave her staff time off to attend demonstrations and rallies, and she paid one member to paint the BLM sign. The sign was so large, though, that it needed stabilization, and with the demands of the farm, it didn’t get finished and erected until this spring. The late appearance, Kim felt, wasn’t necessarily a negative; as last summer’s initial furor died down, the need for a public reminder of the BLM message has grown.
Initial response to the sign, Kim said, was positive. Customers commented encouragingly; drivers beeped their horns in a thumbs-up attitude. Anyone who felt otherwise apparently remained quiet. And after the incident, many deplored the vandalism, some offering financial help to reinstate the sign.
But for others, the vandalism popped the cork on their silence. One customer who had made a u-pick reservation (a COVID necessity) cancelled after reading the M-Live coverage of the incidence. He couldn’t “donate to a communist business”, he declared. For Kim, that comment betrayed the disinformation and rank ignorance behind much of the campaign against the BLM movement. “There’s just so much wrong with that statement,” said Kim, shaking her head. Slow Farm is a market enterprise, owned by Kim, run to make a profit—hopeful in some years, as agriculture always is—but it is not a charitable organization accepting donations. And more importantly, what does any of that have to do with the ongoing systemic ostracization and mistreatment of marginalized people?
The sign can’t be fixed. The destruction evoked a range of complex emotions in Kim and her staff. Sadness, first, that a basic respect for each person’s humanity isn’t universal. Vulnerable to the possibility of further violence. Rage against the stupidity and evil of racism. Futile in their efforts to continue the fight. After some thought, Kim sent out a short note to Slow Farm’s customers, four to five thousand households. Though she appreciated the generosity of those who offered to financially support the creation of a new sign for Slow Farm, she suggested instead that the destruction of the original indicated that widespread community support for the tenets of the BLM movement is needed. “I would ask you,” Kim wrote, “to please make a donation to an organization in this area that is doing the most to support the Black Lives Matter movement, like Survivors Speak. And to make a donation every time you hear or know about other racist attacks. In the meantime, I’d like to put up more Black Lives Matter signs - is there someone out there who would like to organize a community art project for this? If yes, please get in touch.”
Imagine, if you would, thousands of homemade BLM yard signs, lining Whitmore Lake Road, lining neighboring roads, lining the streets of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and the other towns of Washtenaw County, reminding us all to continue fighting the systemic racism which plagues our society. And imagine the day when those signs are no longer necessary.