Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum and the Hayti Heritage Center will be co-sponsoring the Durham premier of We Shall No Be Moved as a part of an on-going initiative to honor the rich and complicated stories of African American and Latino farm workers in North Carolina agricultural history.

We Shall Not Be Moved is their song, and it means they “ain’t going nowhere!” That’s the spirit of the Tillery, North Carolina resettlement, product of a New Deal program offering landless sharecroppers a chance to buy their own farms. Roanoke Farms was one of only a handful of
resettlement projects for African Americans. Its families overcame the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow to earn their part of the American Dream. They and their successors continue to battle racism, assaults on their environment, farm foreclosures, and natural disasters.

Through archival film and video footage, numerous historical photographs, and the vibrant narratives of Tillery’s elders, We Shall Not Be Moved shows how seeds of independence planted in the pre-Civil Rights era took root in movements for racial justice in the 1960s and grew into a strong force battling present-day environmental racism and economic marginalization.

Today, the Concerned Citizens of Tillery leads national campaigns against industrial hog farming, black land loss, and toxic waste dumping. Its internationally recognized community-led programs promote the health and vitality of rural communities. The people of Tillery teach us the value not only of remembering history, but also of fighting for justice. They show us how people of color, particularly in rural areas, continue their valiant struggle today.