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Finding community through land ownership at Kindred on the Rocks, Jamaica by Rica Richards

9 images Created 9 Oct 2023

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  • Staceyann Chin meets me at her home in Kingston, Jamaica, as she gets ready to make the journey out to her farm Kindred on the Rock, in rural St. Catherine. Staceyann purchased the land for the farm during the pandemic, shortly after returning home to Jamaica following a two decade long exile.<br />
Staceyann is a queer Jamaican, feminist, poet, and activist. In the late 1990s, she was the target of a brutal attack that led to her to leave the country to find safety. She was sexually assaulted by a group of men after coming out publicly as a lesbian. Two decades on, Staceyann is revered internationally for her profound, groundbreaking work as a feminist, poet, activist, and mother. Her radical activism and her success in the creative industries serves as an inspiration to many Jamaicans belonging to the queer community.
    Staceyann Chin at her home in Kingston
  • A landscape view of Kindred on the Rock, the 70 acre homestead founded by Staceyann as the first safe space for queer Jamaicans home and abroad.  According to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, only 30% of registered farmers in Jamaica are women and only 11% of the land under cultivation is owned by women. Because it is uncommon for a woman to own her farmland, Staceyann governs herself under a more masculine persona when working with her predominantly male counterparts. This adaptation saves her from unwanted attention and reinforces her authority as an employer. <br />
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Like most rural areas in the country, labour in Point Hill is highly gendered -  men work the land and construction projects while women tend to domestic chores and smaller scale gardening. But this is another area where Kindred defies the norm: the handful of teenage staff members have no problem with transitioning between otherwise gendered roles without being prompted. On average, Kindred employs a dozen people, 40% of whom are women.
    Kindred on the Rock.jpg
  • A queer pride welcome mat reminds everyone passing through the front door that “LOVE” is the way of the land here at Kindred on the Rock. This photograph was taken as guests were introduced to their new home during an inaugural Pride Month social event at Kindred called “Labrish” [Labrish is a Jamaican term for chatting or gossiping.] All the art, decor, and books located on the property affirm the values and identities that come together in this space. The collection is Afrocentric, feminist, and queer, and normalises womanhood and queerness, something that is extremely rare in Jamaica. <br />
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Queer Jamaicans face the daily threat of verbal, physical, sexual, and sometimes fatal assault still today. Here, there are still no legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community - homosexual relations are still punished by law. During the pandemic, Staceyann decided to return home to Jamaica with her young daughter to build the pioneering community that they had envisioned together. “Kindred on the Rock is an intentional community of radical, progressive, inclusive thinkers & doers who believe there is value to be harnessed from a deep engagement with the earth & the bounties it provides for our survival.”
    'Love is the way of the land�...JPG
  • Miss Celeste, Kindred’s matriarch, inspects dehydrated crops on her land, located next to the Kindred farm.  Like the overwhelming majority of women in agriculture in Jamaica, Miss Celeste does not own the land she cultivates. She was gifted use of this grung by the man who owns it and does her best to reap from it with the help of her daughter and granddaughter. <br />
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There is no infrastructure for piped water in the area of Point Hill. Everyone including Miss Celeste relies on rainwater harvesting and on purchasing drinking water from trucks for their homes and farms. This didn’t pose as much of an issue when the rains were more regular and predictable. Now, droughts leave some farmers and families in shortage of water. The entire island is suffering from erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts.
    Dehydrated crops
  • At Kindred, Staceyann and two of the workmen cut and clear their path to locate the old structure that will be renovated to house a new community water catchment. Embarking on this endeavor goes beyond their current areas of expertise, but the need is clear. There is already a large, stone-made water catchment at Kindred, which was built by previous owners, and supplies all the farm’s operations. Staceyann shares this water catchment with neighboring farmers and families during drought periods. <br />
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But as a solution-oriented individual, Staceyann is determined to transform this old house into a new community water catchment. Upon its completion, Point Hill residents will be able to source water from it, without having to enter the property at Kindred and use the primary catchment.
    Finding solutions
  • Jovantee Anderson reads a piece by Lorna Goodison at Kindred’s inaugural Pride Month social event.<br />
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Agriculture at Kindred does not yet sustain the business, so the farm has adopted the principles of a social enterprise, inviting the community to contribute in cash, or in sweat equity, to the cause. ‘Black to the Land’ is one of the programmes, which generates revenue through sales and donations. Jovantee was the only local Jamaican participating in the inaugural cohort of ‘Black to the land’ this year - the rest of the participants in the cohort were foreigners. <br />
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‘Something shifted in me at Kindred, and it had to do with my relationship to the land, and to the community. I was deeply touched to see not just older folks in my cohort, but also by the older men and women cheering us on, and listening to us speak about our queer experiences on that stage, and affirming us, laughing with us. And it was very important for me to sit on that land, to feel grounded in it. I was deeply touched by this experience.’
    'Black to the land'
  • Kindred employee Miss Keisha and her young daughter walk the road towards the gate with Staceyann. Staceyann has learned that Miss Keisha’s eldest daughter is in the hospital in Kingston, and invites her to the office to provide some financial support for the journey.<br />
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Keisha is one of the wider pool of residents in Point Hill who benefit from Stacymann’s new farm. When necessary, she visits Kindred to collect water for her home. And as the mother of a young daughter who is fighting sickle cell disease, her relationship with Staceyann has been a source of support as she navigates these crises.<br />
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The work that Staceyann and her team do with Kindred has a direct and lasting impact on the community beyond its immediate borders. As queer persons are integrated into all communities at large despite marginalisation, Kindred's influence is felt beyond the queer community, too.
    Lending a hand
  • It is early evening and Staceyann reminisces with  her former lecturer from the University of the West Indies. There will be many challenges ahead in the journey towards self-sufficiency. But<br />
Kindred on the Rock cultivates a unique environment in which the relationships people have with each other and with the land foster everyone's well-being. In a way there's a bittersweet poetry about the farm's endeavours: the challenges posed by the land and climate are also part of what brings people together for collective action.
    The journey ahead
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