Gary R. Grant

GARY R. GRANT, the Executive Director of the internationally acclaimed Concerned Citizens of Tillery (CCT) for the past twenty-four years, is also founding president of the national Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association (BFAA - 1997), director of the National Land Loss Fund (LLF), and co-director of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN). The son of the late Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant (deceased 2001), Mr. Grant was reared on a family farm in the New Deal Community of Tillery Farms, located in Halifax County, North Carolina. Holder of a BA degree from North Carolina College (now NC Central University, Durham, NC), Mr. Grant was a teacher in the Tillery community, Halifax County School System for 12 years and has also worked with the New York City Department of Human Services. Grant appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes (“Pork Power”) in 1996, has appeared several times on North Carolina Public Television Now, and has received coverage in numerous other media. He has authored and co-authored several papers on the destruction of the environment by corporate hog growing facilities and the decline of the Black farmers in America.

As a progressive community activist, Gary R. Grant has served on the boards of directors for the Halifax County Board of Education (elected 1982-1986), the North Carolina Hunger Coalition, the Fund for Southern Communities ( Atlanta, GA ), the Center for Women's Economic Alternatives ( Ahoskie , NC ), and the Halifax County Black Caucus. He served on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Small Towns & Cities Advisory Council (1996-1998), the planning committee for Who Owns America Conference III ( Land Tenure Center , University of Wisconsin-Madison ), the EPA's Environmental Justice Enforcement Roundtable Taskforce, the Groundwater Foundation's Symposium Executive Committee, and the North Carolina Hog Roundtable (convener). He is the founding board chairperson of the national Black Family Land Trust (2002), an advisory board member and chairperson of the African American Environmental Action Justice Network (AAEJAN), and co-director of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network.

Mr. Grant has been recognized with the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future's “Individual Award for Leadership in Environmental Stewardship” (October 2003), the 1st NC Democracy's Torchbearer Award for Excellence in Organizing for Democracy (November 2003), the Land Loss Prevention Project's “Steward of the Land” Award (2003), the Elijah Muhammad Award of Excellence (2002) for his work with the Black farmers in America, the national Rural Sociological Society's “Distinguished Service to Rural Life” Award (August 2000), and the Community Leadership Award from the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus (May 1998). He was appointed as the Local Convener for the Year of the Volunteer 1998 by Governor James B. Hunt of North Carolina and designated a “Guardian of the Environment” by The Charlotte Observer (1998). Mr. Grant received the first Halifax County NAACP Humanitarian Award (1998), an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Eastern North Carolina Theological Institute (1997), the Trail Blazer Award for Environmental Justice (1996) by the Region IV Environmental Justice Action Task Force, and the Halifax County NAACP Community Service Award, 1993.

Grant's philosophy: The concept of “community” has been lost in enduring racism, and the overkill of capitalism, religious piety, and environmental injustice. Nurturing communities with self-empowerment, political awareness, futurism and the destiny of our children, and knowledge of the rich local history and culture should be the priorities of each day.

Last Updated: 06/12/05 by Vic