Along the way, stories guided me.
First were stories of the women in my family. Stories of the lives they lived and the harm they endured. Then came my work with survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Their words mirroring stories, mostly unspoken from the women in my family.
Working in my gardens, I finally understood with the life my great grandmother Eva, lived. The violence she and our ancestors experienced, how the land gave back to her. Not just in abundance to feed her family, but also as a place for her grief and sadness to be held, for her joy and sense of belonging to be found.
Eva Imani was founded as a space to honor and expand on the wisdom our ancestors shared with the land. Wisdom that helps us to create a sovereign reality for our food system, remember ways to connect with the land, and expand capacity for community to withstand all that is transforming around us.
-Jasmine