We’re excited to offer the extended version of the conversation between award-winning author Natalie Baszile and community leader Carlton Turner, originally broadcast at Rural Assembly Everywhere 2025. For anyone who missed the live event—or wants to go deeper, this replay gives you an in-depth look at the ideas, experiences, and vision shared by these two influential voices.
“I think we can’t lose hope.
Not in a naive way, because the world is complicated and it is more challenging and it is deeply distressing to me to see how so much progress is being dismantled. But when I look around at my community, when I look around at what young people are doing, when I look at how people are really kind of coming together, that is what brings me hope.”
— Natalie Baszile at Rural Assembly Everywhere 2025
Baszile, author of Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other’s Harvests, is a leading voice on the legacy and importance of Black agriculture and land ownership. In the interview, she shares personal stories, historical insights, and strategies for cultivating abundance in rural communities. She’s interviewed by CarltonTurner, who works across the country as a performing artist, arts advocate, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant, and facilitator. Carlton is also founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (SIPP Culture). The MCCP uses arts and agriculture to support rural community, cultural, and economic development in his hometown of Utica, Miss., where he lives with his wife Brandi and three children.
Whether you’re a farmer, organizer, educator, or simply someone curious about the intersections of land, legacy, and community, this replay is packed with ideas to inspire action and spark conversation.
