We Can Be Podcast - The Heinz Endowments

Raqueeb Bey, the founder and executive director of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh, joins this episode’s host, Endowments Vice President of Sustainability Andrew McElwaine, to discuss food deserts, the healing effects of holistic gardening and the organization’s surprise boost from alt-rock stars Rage Against the Machine.   Raqueeb founded Black Urban Gardeners (BUGS), a collective of Black men and women who use education and gardening experiences to address the food desert challenges that persist in many Black and brown communities, in 2015. As she came to recognize a fraying generational knowledge of how to garden, she was moved to take action through BUGS and Mama Africa's Green Scouts, a youth program she founded that teaches community gardening and sustainability.    “We don’t just grow food,” Raqueeb says. “We grow minds and leaders.”   Raqueeb shares her journey from a career in finance and banking to becoming a prominent figure in the growing food sovereignty movement, as well the the