In Part I of this special two-part episode of "Against the Grain," we take you back to Chillicothe, Missouri to mark the 40th anniversary of the longest sustained farmer protest in American history. Starting in March of 1986, farmers and movement allies blockaded the Farmers Home Administration office in Chillicothe for 145 days. Organized in large part by the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, the blockade brought together a multiracial working class coalition of civil rights, labor, and farm activists. Carolyn Mugar, Farm Aid's first executive director, got involved from the start and recruited Farm Aid founder John Mellencamp to join the blockade. Other national figures like the Rev. Jesse Jackson also came to Chillicothe. This episode includes interviews with John Mellencamp, MRCC organizers Roger Allison and Rhonda Perry, as well as Farm Aid's Carolyn Mugar. It also features archival sound from Jesse Jackson's appearance and John Mellencamp's performance at the blockade before 10,000 people in the FmHA parking lot, where he used a flatbed truck for a stage. As we stare down another farm crisis, the story of Chillicothe reminds us that we've been here before, fought back - and won!
