Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Awards
Publications
Teaching History
Generic
Gail P. Myers

Gail P. Myers

Washington,DC

Summary

Cultural Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker with 25+ years of experience in African American farming anthropology.

Overview

34
34
years of professional experience

Work History

Filmmaker

Rhythms of the Land
09.2022
  • Company Overview: (www.rhythmsoftheland.com)
  • Completed a 60-minute documentary on Black farmers and sharecroppers, covering US agriculture from the Civil War to today. Filmed in 2012, it is screening nationwide in theaters, universities, food conferences, and online.

Founder

Farms to Grow, Inc.
01.2004 - Current
  • Co-founded a nonprofit supporting Black and disadvantaged farmers. Over 19 years, FTG collaborated with local agencies, schools, nonprofits, and community organizations to develop community and youth enrichment through food efforts and developing farmers markets.

Adjunct Faculty

Morehouse School of Medicine
09.2002 - Current
  • Created the 'Ethnicity, Class, Politics, and Disease' course for Morehouse Med School’s Master of Public Health program. Developed course materials and lesson plans, and assisted students with final projects.

Staff Liaison

Sweet Freedom Farm
09.2022 - 05.2023
  • Provided consultation, evaluation, staff assessment, Board development, strategic planning, and staff morale support for a non-profit farm organization focused on growing food for incarcerated families and political action support.

Market Consultant

Bayview Hunters Point Family
04.2017 - 10.2018
  • Organized district 10 community residents, churches, and school gardeners to open a neighborhood growers’ market. Provided technical assistance, created marketing materials, secured talent and entertainment, trained youth growers, and combined diverse neighbors in a weekly seasonal market. Bayview Growers Market ran for two seasons.

Principal Researcher

Hayward Promise Neighborhood
09.2013 - 09.2015
  • Served as principal researcher for a federally funded project, developing training manuals, training bi-lingual surveyors, and supervising daily quality control. The 5-year pilot project, funded by the Obama Administration, was conducted in 12 neighborhoods, including Hayward, CA.

Market

Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association
03.2005 - 06.2008
  • Developed a farmers’ market in a low-income SF community, recruiting farmers, marketing to local organizations, and training a local resident to manage the market. The weekly market created a positive and safe space in a community affected by drugs and violence.

Instructor

The Ohio State University
01.1999 - 12.2002
  • Applied innovative teaching strategies for 50 to 100 undergraduate students, including small group projects and classroom presentations. Created engaging written and oral assignments and research projects.

Visiting Lecturer

Denison University
08.1999 - 12.1999
  • Incorporated field trips, guest lecturers, community presentations, class discussions, and formal teaching into this curriculum. Organized an overnight on-farm field trip with 14 students to an 89-year-old Black farmer in Southern Ohio.

Morehouse School of Medicine
01.1992 - 05.1997
  • Assisted in survey design for a five-year NIH AIDS/HIV study, conducting focus groups, interviews, and participant observation. Portions of this research were published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Research Consultant

Battelle Memorial Institute
01.1994 - 05.1996
  • Part of a CDC-funded project team assessing STD prevention program responses to the early syphilis epidemic in the Southern US. Provided qualitative input to study design, data management, analysis, and interpretation. Conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups. Final manuscript included in CDC publication.

Ethnographer

Public/Private Ventures
11.1994 - 04.1996
  • Conducted participant observation and documented the organization of a community-based teen pregnancy initiative. Interviewed residents and systems’ representatives, producing weekly analytic field notes. The Annie Casey Foundation Program was implemented in several states, including Atlanta, GA.

Education

Ph.D. - Cultural Anthropology

The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
01.2001

M.A. - Applied Anthropology

Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA
01.1997

B. A. - English

Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
01.1991

Associate of Arts - General Studies

Daytona Beach Community College
Daytona Beach, FL
01.1988

Skills

  • Black Farmers Traditions and Material Culture
  • African American Farmers Qualitative Research Design
  • Black Farmers and Foodways in the US
  • Qualitative Research Methods

Timeline

Filmmaker

Rhythms of the Land
09.2022

Staff Liaison

Sweet Freedom Farm
09.2022 - 05.2023

Market Consultant

Bayview Hunters Point Family
04.2017 - 10.2018

Principal Researcher

Hayward Promise Neighborhood
09.2013 - 09.2015

Market

Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association
03.2005 - 06.2008

Founder

Farms to Grow, Inc.
01.2004 - Current

Adjunct Faculty

Morehouse School of Medicine
09.2002 - Current

Visiting Lecturer

Denison University
08.1999 - 12.1999

Instructor

The Ohio State University
01.1999 - 12.2002

Ethnographer

Public/Private Ventures
11.1994 - 04.1996

Research Consultant

Battelle Memorial Institute
01.1994 - 05.1996

Morehouse School of Medicine
01.1992 - 05.1997

M.A. - Applied Anthropology

Georgia State University

B. A. - English

Florida State University

Associate of Arts - General Studies

Daytona Beach Community College

Ph.D. - Cultural Anthropology

The Ohio State University

Awards

2024 Food to Community Leader, Northern California Public Media, Food and Wine Awards Monterey, CA, 2023 Advocate for Social Justice “Justie” Award, Eco farm Conference, Asilomar, CA, 2022 Special Recognition Award, Senate State of California, Asilomar, CA, 2015 Certificate of Recognition, California State Legislature, Stockton, CA, 2000 Special Recognition Award Ohio House of Representatives, Delaware, OH

Publications

  • 2022 Rice.” In Black Food: Stories, Recipes from across the African Diaspora, Ed. Terry, Bryant, 4 Color Books, California, pp140-141.
  • 2017 Bandele, Owusu, Myers, Gail, The Roots of Black Agrarianism: Land Justice: Re-imagining Land, Food, and the Commons. Eds. Williams, J & Gimenez, E. Food First, Berkeley, CA, pp19-39.
  • 2015 Myers, Gail, Decolonizing a Food System: Freedom Farmers’ Market as a Place for Resistance and Analysis. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Commentaries on Race and Ethnicity in Food Systems Work, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp149-152
  • June 1997 Myers, G, McGrady, G, et al. Weapon carrying among black adolescents: a social network perspective: American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87. No. 6. pp1038-1040
  • June 2022 Featured in Discovery + Series, “Hungry for Answers: Where are the Black Farmers,” with Caroline Randall Williams, produced by Viola Davis, aired June 8, 2022
  • Oct. 2019 Featured in Huff Post Video Article, “Forgotten Farmers,” Oct. 2019
  • April 2015 Featured in Root Magazine, “One of Seven Urban Farmers to Know,” April 24, 2015
  • Feb 2005 Organized the 22nd California Small Farm Conference, Ventura, CA
  • March 2000 Developed and coordinated the first statewide conference for Ohio's African American Farmers, “Sustaining Communities: Ohio’s Black Farmers at the Crossroads,” Delaware, OH

Teaching History

  • January 2023- Part-time Faculty
  • Present The New School, New York, NY, Food Studies Program Developed the course “Black Farmers and Foodways in the US” drawing on 25+ years of interviews and fieldwork
  • April 2005- June 2005 Instructor, Cultural Studies San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA Designed a rigorous Cultural Studies course with a critical analysis framework, incorporating innovative teaching methods like hip hop music and fashion.