Across the nation and right here in the Carolinas, Black community leaders have built movements, programs, legislation, and institutions aimed at ending hunger. During Black History Month, we celebrate their legacy. Fannie Lou Hamer was a pioneer of the food justice movement, as well as one of the leading voices of the Civil Rights movement. A daughter of sharecroppers from the Mississippi delta, she established the Freedom Farm Cooperative in Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1969.  

John Lewis—the esteemed civil rights leader and congressman from Georgia – was also the son of sharecroppers. A champion of anti-hunger work throughout his career, Lewis championed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other social programs aimed at fighting hunger.  

Shirley Chisholm, as our nation’s first Black congresswoman, worked on the House Agriculture Committee. In that role she helped lead the expansion of the food stamps program (which later became SNAP) and was one of the architects of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.  

Mickey Leland, a congressman from Texas, was co-founder of the House Select Committee on Hunger, and a tireless advocate in the fight to eradicate hunger. His legacy lives on in many ways, including the 1993 Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act that strengthened and expanded access to SNAP for low-income children. 

These Black Anti-Hunger leaders laid the ground work for our modern-day advocates who continue the legacy of compassionate leadership in their efforts to create hunger-free communities. 

Here in the Carolinas, food justice leaders like Earline Middleton continue to move the needle every day. Earline spent 32 years at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (FBCENC) before retiring from her role as Vice President of Partner Services & Public Policy on 2022. When Earline started at FBCENC in 1990, she dove in to raising awareness and funds, going on to manage volunteers and develop partner organizations in the community. Under her leadership, her team launched programs aimed at feeding vulnerable populations, advocated for strong federal and state nutrition programs, and helped partner agencies expand their capacity to nourish more people. She was instrumental in feeding thousands of North Carolinians over the course of her career. 

Earline now serves as the Executive Director of the Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute. Alongside former Congresswoman Eva Clayton, Earline leads the organization in their effort to “develop an innovate ecosystem that ensures the delivery of healthy food in our rural communities across North Carolina.” Through her life-long passion for ending hunger, Earline advocates at the state and federal level alongside her former food bank colleagues throughout the Feeding the Carolinas network.  

Feeding the Carolinas’ member Food Banks are gratefully molded, shaped, and made better by so many Black Anti-Hunger advocates in this work. Those who face hunger in our neighborhoods are served better because of all the Black leaders who work to elevate the needs of their communities through their time, talents, experience, and generosity.