Lone Star legacies: Black ranchers in Texas tend cattle, land, and family history most of all
Lone Star legacies: Black ranchers in Texas tend cattle, land, and family history most of all
A multimedia storyteller found an emotional mission: documenting the rich lives of Black farmers and ranchers. She started with her own kinfolk and her fellow Texans.
Black agricultural producers have long called Texas home. Across the state, Black ranchers and farmers own cattle operations that sprawl across hundreds of acres, sell their beef directly to customers, and cultivate crops such as watermelon and cowpea hay.
In Texas, there are more Black producers than in any other state in the country, totaling 11,741, according to the 2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture; that number makes up almost a quarter of all Black farmers nationwide. Freestone and Smith counties, in northeastern Texas, rank among the three counties with the most Black-operated farms, with more than 300 in each county.
A West Texas native, I embarked on a journey to document and truly harness the beauty of being a descendant of Black farmers. My grandfather worked as a farmer in East Texas, and my uncles Billy and Jimi Vivens have carried on that legacy as a farmer and ranch foreman-gardener, respectively.
As I learned more about my own family’s agricultural legacy, I understood the power of Black land ownership, the true freedom that comes with it, and the gift of connection to Black land still owned by my relatives. I had not fully grasped these ideas until I started volunteering on urban rooftop farms and in community gardens. It was in those spaces that I began to comprehend the liberty that comes with owning your own land and growing your own food. While standing on urban rooftop farms in New York, my mind often drifted back to Texas where I thought of my uncle, Jimi, and how he has dedicated his life to creating a business for our family for generations to come.
“I had a guy once tell me, ‘You can be a hired hand all of your life. Or you can make something out of your life.’ And that stuck in my mind.”
—Jimi Vivens
My uncle Jimi has now been farming in West Texas for more than 40 years. With grace and humility, he has taught me the definitions of perseverance and faith through his commitment to this challenging career.
“I had a guy once tell me, ‘You can be a hired hand all of your life. Or you can make something out of your life.’ And that stuck in my mind. And I was just like, ‘I don’t want to be a hired hand for somebody all of my life,’” he told me. “A lot of people said I would probably never make it. But I’m still going today, and I thank God for that.”
Uncle Jimi’s stories led me to found Black Farmer Stories, a nonprofit and digital platform that preserves the history, legacy, and agricultural knowledge of Black farmers and ranchers across the United States. I began this project with the intention of creating it for Black families who own land that is currently or once was in production. At first, I envisioned this project would preserve their work primarily for their relatives, those living now and future generations. With land loss shrinking Black property ownership to just the tiniest fraction of what African Americans owned in the early 20th century, families need records of how and why their ancestors and kinfolk worked the land; what they grew and produced on it; how they lived and loved on it; and most importantly, how and why they held onto it.
Since 2019, I have interviewed 10 Black agricultural producers in Texas. I am inspired and humbled that they opened their hearts and shared their stories with me. I consider myself a partner in the storytelling process; my goal is not just to capture narratives of struggle or resilience, but to record those quiet, tender moments of rest and joy. I do not take lightly the privilege I have in telling their stories, and sharing their faith and commitment to ensure the next generation has a legacy to carry on.
Black Farmer Stories is launching this year, and I hope you will share any stories that inspire you with others.
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Kimberly Ratcliff
Family-owned ranch since 2000
The Ratcliff family owns Caney Creek Ranch, a 2,000-acre operation in East Texas on land that Kimberly’s parents acquired in 2000. She left a corporate marketing job in New York City in 2007 to take over running her family’s ranch. Kimberly hopes the next generation, her niece and nephew—pictured above in July 2019 playing on bales of hay with rancher Jeremy Coleman’s sons—will one day join the operation. All four children go to summer camp annually together, and the hope is that, just as they grow up together, they will one day work on the ranch together.
“But this operation, knowing my dad pretty much used his retirement to purchase it, I think that is more of my incentive, knowing he’s sacrificing, saying ‘This is my family’s heritage now.’ … This is something for a lifetime.”
—Kimberly Ratcliff
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Jimi Vivens
Farming for more than four decades
Jimi Vivens, pictured below in July 2019 resting after a day’s work, has been farming in rural Texas for more than four decades. He comes from a family of growers: His father, Robert, was a farmer, and his mother, Carrie, worked the fields picking cotton in East Texas. Vivens plumbed for 10 years before eventually getting offered an opportunity to start farming in West Texas.
Jimi Vivens has primarily been growing cotton and doing contract work since embarking on his career as a farmer. However, in 2018, he decided to diversify his crops and added cowpea hay to his growing rotation. The decision came easy after evaluating the way cotton had been depleting his land and learning from trials how cowpea hay returned nutrients to the soil.
Cowpea, pictured in Jimi Vivens’ hands, is used for both forage and hay production. He hopes to expand his cowpea production and one day grow flowers and raise bees.
Black Farmer Stories—
Francis and Cynthia Matlock
Stewards of family land passed down for over 100 years
Cynthia and Francis Matlock are caretakers of property that has been in their family for more than 100 years. Pictured in September 2020, the couple inherited their land from Francis’ grandmother, who purchased it in the 1920s, the apex of Black land ownership in the United States. They have since purchased additional adjacent acres, and their herd of Black Angus cows roam more than 200 acres.
“We hope [younger people will] look back and see what we did, that ‘they kept the land up.”
—Francis Matlock
Husband and wife Francis and Cynthia Matlock share a laugh together in front of a haystack on their property. Their family’s land was mostly used as pasture land over the years. Today, it is primarily used for their cattle operation, but they also grow a fall crop every year of kale and greens for Cynthia’s mother. “My husband and I came full circle. We were raised on the farm with cattle, and I didn’t think when we first married I was marrying a ranchman and we were still going to be ranch people. But 37 years later, here we are taking care of the land,” she said.
Black Farmer Stories
As part of their everyday rituals and tasks, the Matlocks care for their cattle, maintain their pasture, gather hay, and prepare the ground for winter grass in the fall. Francis Matlock, who also works as a truck driver, has been in the cattle business for more than 25 years and fits in maintenance work around the farm. The couple, who have a son, raise a herd of about 65 cattle today. “We hope [younger people will] look back and see what we did, that ‘they kept the land up.” Maybe it’ll be a motivation,” said Francis Matlock.
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Winford Bowie
Also family-owned for more than a century
Winford Bowie, 85, pictured below with his cattle in July 2019, has been tending East Texas land owned by his family for more than a century. The land was acquired by his grandfather, who was enslaved in Alabama before he purchased it in Texas. Bowie later bought adjacent land of his own near the family’s acreage and still raises a small herd of cattle there. During his career, Bowie had a successful run working in a meatpacking facility, which eventually led him to his cattle business.
“My granddaddy held onto his [land]. And by them doing what they were doing for themselves on the property, on the land, they survived. And that instilled in me to purchase land. I purchased some land before I got out of high school when land was cheap. By the blessing of the good Lord, hard work, we made it and I’m still making it.”
—Winford Bowie
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Eddie Jones
Family-owned since after the Civil War
Eddie Jones, pictured below in September 2020, grew up farming on an East Texas ranch that’s been in his family since the early 1900s. His grandfather, who was enslaved, acquired it after receiving his freedom in 1865 in Texas. The family has raised Black Brangus cattle, Charolais bulls and pigs, as well as growing purple hull peas, corn, cotton, and sugarcane on their 1,000 acres over the years.
Jones, who is also a community historian, takes stock of his acreage. He supports community-run organizations and educates members on the importance of holding onto their family’s land. “I’m like a seed. I was planted here, I grew up here, nourished here. I was used to maintain the property and to maintain the culture of my grandfather and my father’s legacies. Once it’s embedded in you and you have a passion for it, it’s always there. This was not just a ranch, a farm—this was a home,” Jones said.
“I’m like a seed. I was planted here, I grew up here, nourished here. I was used to maintain the property and to maintain the culture of my grandfather and my father’s legacies.”
—Eddie Jones
The Jones family land was once home to his grandfather’s 10 sugarcane mills and two cotton gins. Today, Jones and his relatives still have more than 400 acres where they raise cattle and coastal hay. Jones also raises horses on a nearby 5 acres.
Black Farmer Stories
