The Obama administration announced a $1.25 billion settlement Thursday to resolve charges by thousands of black farmers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.

The National Black Farmers Association, which is organizing the events, will hold a national rally Feb. 15 in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington. Boyd said the USDA has habitually denied farming loans to African-Americans, or given them less than white farmers.

Black farmers are staging rallies across the South to ask the government to pay them $1.15 billion for enduring decades of discrimination. The largest of the seven regional rallies are planned for today at 11 a.m. on Beale Street in Handy Park.

The head of the National Black Farmers Association is urging African-American farmers to strongly lobby lawmakers to get them to approve a $1.15 billion discrimination settlement.

The Justice Department has notified the White House that a settlement is near for black farmers discriminated against by the United States Department of Agriculture. The plaintiffs in this case 80 to 90 thousand black farmers. The issue dates back to the late 1990’s and the Clinton administration.

As the nation strives to put people back to work, now is the time to honor our promise to black farmers. President Obama asked Congress in May for $1.15 billion for black farmers to compensate them for discrimination by the Department of Agriculture, but Congress has failed to act.

The Obama administration has asked Congress to provide $1.15 billion for discrimination claims the farmers won more than a decade ago against the Department of Agriculture. The money would be in addition to $100 million already in place.

Black farmers in the US tend to be small and family farmers, who are now receiving much attention from the Obama administration, particularly with USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food project. But for much of USDA's history, black farmers were the victims of institutionalized, racially-biased practices, and denied the kind of support and financial benefits routinely given to their white counterparts.

Speculation is rife on who Obama will pick to head up the USDA. Overall, it seems that the sustainable agriculture community is rightly up in arms over the probable shortlist. The overall list is generally more than a little unsavory with former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack heading up the likelies.

Hundreds of discrimination complaints by minority farmers have gone unprocessed by the Agriculture Department, according to the report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office released Wednesday.

There's been an outpouring of public grief following the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy late Tuesday night, and he'll be remembered as a tireless champion of civil rights and social justice.

John W. Boyd, Jr., President, and Founder of the National Black Farmers Association today released the following statement on the passing of Senatore Edward M. Kennedy.

President of the National Black Farmers Association, Dr. John W. Boyd, Jr., was selected to answer questions for WRAL concerning Black Farmers who were unfairly denied loans by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) between 1986 – 1997. Racial discrimination is a personal, as well as a national concern of Dr. Boyd. As the owner of a 300-acre poultry.

In January 2008, the Cohen Report wrote about the Pigford litigation that had attempted, with limited effect, to redress the historic discrimination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture toward black farmers.

The front page of The Washington Post

President Barack Obama is proposing that the government provide $1.25 billion to settle discrimination claims by black farmers against the Agriculture Department. The White House said the money would be included in the president's 2010 budget request to be unveiled Thursday.

Black Farmers Call On President Obama And Secretary Vilsack To Reopen Pigford Discrimination Settlement. Tomorrow, the National Black Farmers Association will hold a protest rally at USDA headquarters on the National Mall in Washington.

Black lawmakers are roiled over the Obama administration’s move to potentially cap billions of dollars in compensation owed to black farmers, saying the position contradicts legislation the president championed as an Illinois senator.

As a senator, Barack Obama led the charge last year to pass a bill allowing black farmers to seek new discrimination claims against the Agriculture Department. Now he is president, and his administration so far is acting like it wants the potentially budget-busting lawsuits to go away. The change isn't sitting well with black farmers who thought they'd get a friendlier reception from Obama after years of resistance from President George W. Bush.

John Boyd, left, has been an advocate for the fair treatment of black farmers for over three decades. The black farmers have been locked out of receiving credit from banks, discriminated against in federal farm subsidy programs, and generally excluded from the normal channels of support that white farmers easily enjoy.