“I think we can’t lose hope.
Not in a naive way, because the world is complicated … 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
We’re excited to offer the extended version of the conversation between award-winning author Natalie Baszile and artist 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.
Baszile is the author of the novel, Queen Sugar, which was adapted for seven television seasons by writer/director Ava DuVernay, and co-produced by Oprah Winfrey. Her non-fiction book, We Are Each Other’s Harvest: Celebrating of African American Farmers, Land & Legacy, Natalie brings together essays, poems, conversations, portraits, and first-person narratives to tell the story of Black people’s connection to the land from Emancipation to the present. We Are Each Other’s Harvest is an Amazon Editor’s Pick and was a Wall Street Journal Book of the Year, 2021.
A native Californian, Natalie’s southern roots stem from Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama. Her maternal Great-great grandfather, Mac Hall (b. 1845) was a farmer, merchant and beekeeper. Natalie’s passion for the stories of Black farmers and land stewards comes from a desire to shift the narrative around agriculture, farming, and labor.
She is interviewed by Carlton Turner, 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, which uses arts and agriculture to support rural community, cultural, and economic development in his hometown of Utica, Mississippi where he lives with his wife Brandi and three children.
Watch and share — the video is packed with ideas that inspire and spark conversation.
