Harmony Devoe is a Harwood High School student working with the Underground Workshop, a network of student journalists across Vermont partnering with Community News Service.
Abdoulaye Niane has learned a lot about diversity through his experiences around the world and in Vermont.
“Everyone can benefit from diversity,” he said. “Embrace other cultures.”
Abdoulaye is the owner of Khelcom Farm in Barre, Vermont. He is from Senegal, and he also has lived in Italy, New York and Minnesota before he moved to Berlin, Vermont, 13 years ago.
“Racism was the first challenge when settling in here,” Abdoulaye said. Before opening a farm, he was a machinist, but he said he faced racism in the shop.
“We had meetings with the machine shop HR about the racism and they disregarded it,” said his wife, Marja, who is white and a nurse at Dartmouth Health.
Abdoulaye spent years putting together 80 pages of racist incidents that had happened in the machine shop. The company then hired a civil rights unit, but Abdoulaye’s lawyer found that the unit only interviewed the white people at the company.
“People in my culture ignore these stories,” Marja said. “I’ve learned so much about my own bias being with [Abdoulaye].”
After this, Abdoulaye decided to give up the profession of being a machinist and went to study to become a farmer.
Abdoulaye participated in The University of Vermont’s Farmer Training Program in 2021 and turned his land into a farm with vegetables, flowers, herbs, goats, chickens and geese.
“We were in no way looking to become farmers. The house and land just happened to be what we were looking for,” he said. “It became evident that we could realistically start up an urban farm with the property we already had.”
He has had a significantly better experience in farming than in the machinery business in Vermont. He enjoys the connection with the land and other people that owning a farm has helped him to develop.
Abdoulaye greatly values education, and one of his favorite parts of farming is the learning aspect of it. His life has been greatly based around learning, as he has traveled the world hoping to open his mind. He also speaks four languages. He studied French and English in Senegal and Italian when he lived in Italy. He grew up speaking Wolof (a Senegalese dialect). However, he does not feel confident in speaking here, because English is his fourth language.
“I hate how I speak English,” he said. “I have a shaky voice and funny accent.”
However, he feels comfortable on his farm, where he can connect with the land and the people who visit. Abdoulaye is growing in a greenhouse for the first time this winter, and he says it has been going well.
Khelcom farm also sells handmade baskets made by a small business in Senegal, similar to those Abdoulaye used for holding vegetables when he lived there. While staying connected to the Senegalese community, Abdoulaye and his family want to widen their community even more and welcome all people to their farm.
“The farmers here are like family now,” Abdoulaye said. “Other farmers look after you, not like competition, but by providing resources, having good relationships, out of compassion.”
Though he left the racism in the machine shops behind him, he said he is still experiencing racism in Vermont.
Abdoulaye went to the same grocery store multiple times, and each time, people would not interact with him. The cashier would not speak to him, but then was friendly with the person behind him in line, who was white.
“That’s racism. In a store people call me trouble. Why?” he said. “When I walk by, many women grab their bags, thinking I’m going to steal it.”
The racism he experiences extends beyond stores.
One summer, Abdoulaye took his children to the river to eat burgers and fries. There were other children at the river, and he greeted them, causing them to run away. He did not want to make anyone uncomfortable, so he decided to go home. Shortly after he got home, the police came to his house saying a woman had called reporting he was at the river offering children candy.
Abdoulaye often reflects upon his experiences of racism in Vermont and how to properly deal with it.
“After looking at people with racist attitudes, they’re mostly ignorant people with no travel and who lack education,” he said. “If someone is racist they shouldn’t be canceled; throw them a line of conversation. Trying to talk to racist people is the best thing to take care of this.”
Marja has learned much about racism through her relationship with her husband.
“White people in Vermont go through our life everyday not seeing racism. But once you get the insight, it’s everywhere,” she said.
Abdoulaye believes conversations and accepting being uncomfortable are the best ways to achieve social justice in their community.
“I like to go to meetings at schools and just challenge everyone with difficult questions,” he said. “Some white folks feel they are not being impacted by racism. They are afraid of getting out of their comfort … challenging yourself can lead you to this eye-opening situation.”
Abdoulaye shared the urge to stand up for others that exists in Senegal.
“You would never let a Senegalese treat someone from somewhere else badly. Here, you turn around because it doesn’t impact you directly,” he said.
Abdoulaye and his biracial family have also experienced issues with racism in Vermont schools.
“My kids have had experiences that lead them to needing therapy to recover,” he said. Abdoulaye shared an incident that happened to his 10-year-old son, Saliou.
“One of his classmates used the N-word with him. Instead of telling us parents ‘Hey, this happened to your kid’ like they should do, they just made the kid write a letter like ‘Hey I’m sorry’ and I saw it and was like ‘No, this is not OK,’ so we went to the principal to put pressure.”
Abdoulaye explained that coming from a different country to America, he expected teachers and principals to know how to troubleshoot any school problem. However, they did not know how to correctly address this harmful event.
“Most people tried to help but they didn’t understand the subject matter,” he said. “Racism is a thing you need to experience on your skin to understand what it is about.”
Abdoulaye described some “joyful spaces” that have helped his family deal with issues like this. One of these communities is Vermont Releaf Collective, a collaborative platform for individuals in the BIPOC community in Vermont, that supports networking, community building, collaboration and the cultivation of joy and healing, according to their website.
Abdoulaye reached out to Vermont Releaf Collective and received a lot of support and advice on how to address the issue with his son. He also made connections with a member who put together a one-day event to provide room for him and other Muslims to pray, since the mosque he used to attend moved far from Abdoulaye.
“As a Muslim, I believe in praying, and I know peace will come someday,” he said. “It’s just sad [that] things are going this way.”
Abdoulaye is also part of a Senegalese community in Montreal.
“People from my country exist in almost every big city community. When a new member comes they can get help; it is like a community house,” Abdoulaye explained.
He believes that building a stronger community can lead to social justice.
“Go meet your neighbors who aren’t from here. Give them a hug, have a conversation, invite them over. Don’t be scared of people who are not like you,” Abdoulaye said. “The people of Vermont cannot stop their social justice work. It will be passed onto the next generation.”
Abdoulaye has a lot of hope for the future.
“It’s really cool to see the younger generation is interested in changing things. It gives me hope that my kids’ futures could be bright,” he said.
The Niane family wants their farm to be a space for all to feel safe and appreciated for who they are.
“This is Khelcom farm and it is open to everybody, no matter who you are,” Abdoulaye said. “If you are hungry, come here, and we will feed you. It brings us joy when we can feed everyone and our own family.”
Khelcom farm is open for visits at 180 Highland Ave., Barre, Vermont, or you can visit their website at https://www.khelcomfarm.com/.
In this month’s installation, our reporters showcase the evolution of farming in Vermont. From environmental adaptations to overcoming racial barriers to young farmers learning from their families, the Underground Workshop’s March 2024 stories show a spectrum of people and places that take part in the Vermont tradition of agriculture. To learn more about the Underground Workshop, visit our website or check us out on Instagram @undergroundworkshopvt.