Chopping cotton on rented land near White Plains, Greene County, Georgia, USA (1941
Sharecropping is a system of agriculture or agricultural production in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land (e.g., 50 percent of the crop). This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of crop per unit of land (e.g., 1 ton per hectare). Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range of different situations and types of agreements that have encompassed the system. Some are governed by tradition, others by law. Legal contract systems such as the Italian mezzadria, the French métayage, and Spanish Mediero[2] occur widely. Islamic law contains a traditional “musaqat” sharecropping agreement for the cultivation of orchards…………….
ontinue to Wikipedia
Willie King at home on Freedom Creek, Old Memphis, Alabama
(Photo courtesy of Joel Beeson)
In 1983 blues musician and community activist Willie King started the Rural Members Association (RMA), non-profit organization, to bring together the elders of the community in and around Old Memphis, Alabama, for the purpose of passing on the local heritage of traditional African American cultural arts and survival skills to the next generation. Over the years RMA projects have impacted thousands of children and adults through educational workshops in traditional crafts like sewing, quilting, carpentry, farming, canning, food preserving, blues music and gospel music, and the internationally renowned Freedom Creek Blues Festival.
The RMA started Freedom Creek Blues Festival in 1997 to bring all walks of life together once a year to celebrate the outstanding blues heritage in our region. This festival allows local musicians to display their musical talent alongside nationally and internationally renowned musicians, helping to keep the local music culture alive and introducing it in the depths of the Alabama black belt to an international audience.
