Dr. Ashley Gripper is the co-creator and co-director of Land Based Jawns, a Philly based organization committed to reclaiming ancestral, earthly, and spiritual relationships with Mama Earth and land for Black folks. In this episode, Ashley tells an in-depth story of her life—sharing all the interconnected moments, memories and experiences that brought her to the land work that she does daily. Through joy, grief, sorrow, and healing, all things return back to the earth and so should we. Land Based Jawns' mission and work is deeply inspired by Octavia Butlers' books: "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" as foundations to building communities of people rooted by establishing a healthy relationships with the land. Ashley, discusses her research around building "Agricultural Community Power" and the ways we rethink measuring success to align with Black ways of knowing that captures the practice of Ubuntu and interdependence.