Labyrinthian is a good word to describe the tangle of explanations given by Senate members for failing again on Sept. 29 to fund the settlements of Pigford II and Cobell, the class action discrimination lawsuits filed by black and Indian farmers.

John Boyd, a fourth generation farmer, wants it to be clear – his effort to secure Congressional funding for a discrimination settlement that Black farmers reached with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is not the pursuit of “reparation.”

Roland Martin discusses Sen. Tom Coburn blocking relief funds for the earthquake-ravaged island nation of Haiti. Coburn has also blocked the settlement funds for the Black farmers. Coburn has been able to block the funds because he has placed a hold on these actions causing everything to be shutdown.

After three weeks of driving his tractor, “Justice,” around Capitol Hill, John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, has been denied for the ninth time.

After three weeks of driving his tractor, "Justice," around Capitol Hill, John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, has been denied for the ninth time.

Boyd to Describe Lessons Learned Advocating for One of Nation’s Largest Civil Rights Class Action Suits

Some 75,000 Black farmers have grown weary of the battle they’ve waged over the past two decades for the federal government to provide them with a $1.15 billion settlement after they were routinely denied loans. But they refuse to give up.

The settlement has been approved by the Obama Administration and the farmers, and funding passed the House. The Senate has tried and failed 8 times to take up the bill.

John Boyd is a man on a mission. Beginning Thursday, the founder and head of the National Black Farmers Association can be seen driving a spluttering tractor called "Justice" around Capitol Hill, pressing political leaders to provide funds to settle a discrimination case involving minority farmers.

When John Boyd steps before a crowd and talks about the indignities and discrimination that black farmers have had to endure from the federal government, he's not just speaking from a script. Boyd, who raises beef cattle, corn, wheat and soybeans in Mecklenburg County, Va., is speaking from real-life experience.

During his press conference, Obama was asked about the $1.25 billion settlement for African-American farmers who were discriminated against by the USDA for decades. The funding for the settlement been delayed in Congress for seven months. April Ryan from Urban Radio asked whether Obama could assure that the settlement would be funded before he leaves office.

For decades, black farmers dealt with devastating discrimination from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because of it, many lost their land. Others simply failed to prosper, denied the help the government gave white farmers much more easily and much more freely.

I’m interested in a cloture vote before the end of the month of September so that the black farmers can receive their settlement. This just has been going on for too long. This has been going on for too long.

With a mule by his side, John W. Boyd, Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, demanded that Congress release immediate measures to support black American farmers at a press conference held Tuesday, Sept. 7, in Foley Square, near the New York County Supreme Court building.

The head of the National Black Farmers Association renewed his call Tuesday for Congress to fund a historic discrimination case settlement involving minority farmers. He slammed the sharply divided Senate for repeatedly stripping funding provisions from different bills, and urged President Obama to call for a decisive vote on the measure by the end of September.

Farmers of America are still fighting for justice they technically won 11 years ago. in 1999 the farmers won the biggest civil rights settlement in American history. after generations of racial discrimination, the government was supposed to pay them $2 billion, but year after year Congress has failed to appropriate the funds. the farmers, well, they are still old $1.5 billion, and they are ramping up the pressure.

Standing across from the U.S. Court House in lower Manhattan with his work mule named Struggle, John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, urged President Barack Obama to pressure Senators to fund the $1.25 billion settlement of a discrimination lawsuit brought by black farmers almost two decades ago.

Our government has admitted that between 1981 and 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture discriminated against blacks who farmed or attempted to farm.

JOHN BOYD JR. has had it. Mr. Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, has worked for the past quarter-century to win some semblance of justice for African American farmers, who for decades were denied government loans because of the color of their skin. Yet something goes wrong every time Mr. Boyd and his constituents think they have made headway.

Apparently, the votes of white farmers in a key state trump the USDA's settlement of long-standing discrimination complaints -- especially in an election year.