This article by the Northwest CLT Corporation discusses the roots of community land trusts during the 1960s in Southwest Georgia, United States. The article outlines how community land trusts were connected to the civil rights movement and how they aimed to support Black sharecroppers and farmers who faced eviction from white plantations. New Communities, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and acquired over 5,000 acres but faced racist policies, boycotts, violence such as firebombing and other violent access that severely impacted living conditions and limited access to financial support. While New Communities, Inc. was eventually forced to sell, it serves as a model for the Northwest CLT Corporation. It illustrates the importance of land control by Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Colour as a component of racial justice.
Topics include: History of Community Land Trusts (CLT), Black Communities, civil rights moment, racial justice, racism, displacement, rural communities, land rights