Bill and Melinda Gates’ Empire of Dirt
Angelica Alzona Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Bill Gates, in his journey from software oligarch to philanthropist, has managed to hang on to a personal fortune worth $127 billion, making him the globe’s second-wealthiest person. As…
Is Georgia About to Hand Its Universities to a Climate-Denying MAGA Stalwart?
Sonny Perdue with cardboard Trump cutoutTom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/ZUMA Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Sonny Perdue, Donald Trump’s loyal-till-the-end agriculture secretary, could use a new job. Georgia’s sprawling public university system needs a new chancellor. The University…
“Queen Sugar” Author Natalie Baszile on How Black Farmers Can Help Save the Planet
Mother Jones illustration; Courtesy of Harper Collins Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Natalie Baszile knew she was onto something when she got the call from Oprah’s people. A novelist and food justice activist, Baszile had been…
The Black Farmer Movement Battling History to Return to the Land
Tahz Walker stands on land that he and others own communally as part of Earthseed Land Collective in Durham, North Carolina on March 14, 2021. Walker and his partner Cristina Rivera-Chapman run Tierra Negra Farm which provides produce for farm shares as well as fresh vegetables to communities in downtown Durham.Madeline Gray Let our journalists…
Can a Post-MAGA Washington Create Sane Policy for Farmworkers?
Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.During the pandemic, some 5 million undocumented immigrants counted as “essential” workers, toiling to keep the food system humming so that tens of millions of other people could safely carry on…
This Land Is Not Your Land
Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Since the inception of the United States, the government has helped make sure land stays in white hands. In the decades after slavery ended, Black Americans accumulated a substantial amount of…