BOONVILLE, CALIFORNIA — A 189-acre property near Boonville, California, has become the home of Black to the Land, an off-grid intentional community of six Black stewards who live on land gifted to them by a nonprofit called Emerald Earth Sanctuary. The ecovillage, located in a rural area 115 miles north of San Francisco, operates entirely on well water and solar power.

The idea for Black to the Land originated in 2015, when Zappa Montag and his then-16-year-old daughter, Bibi Sarai, witnessed gentrification in Oakland and envisioned a space surrounded by nature for Black people to gather. In 2021, a friend introduced them to Emerald Earth Sanctuary in Mendocino County, founded in 1989 by white activists, as a possible site for a yoga and meditation retreat for Black people. By that time, the sanctuary had begun to cease operations as older members aged or moved away, and its nonprofit sought people from marginalized communities to assume ownership. The organization gifted stewardship of the property to Black to the Land through a verbal and written agreement.

"It's been a reparations type of project. Instead of paying money, we are spending the time to learn stewardship and the knowledge of how to take care of this particular place," Black to the Land founder Zappa Montag said.

Bibi Sarai died unexpectedly in February 2023. After her death, Montag was initially uncertain whether the project would continue. Over the following two years, he recruited new members and sharpened his agricultural and building skills through mentorship from former Emerald Earth members. The community also partners with an ecovillage leader from Ghana who teaches natural building techniques, and the organization Sankofa Roots has taught members how to build fires and structures.

The property is surrounded by redwoods, Pacific madrones, and oak trees, with a small stream running through a valley. Dozens of fruit trees dot the land, and a large garden produces squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, corn, and peppers. Community members reside in clay dwellings, practice yoga, and cook meals in a community center on the property. Instead of paying housing costs, all members perform weekly chores such as gathering firewood for stoves.

"We want to be able to be independent or self-reliant, because it feels like things are precarious out there these days," Montag said. "There's a movement of this happening all over the place."

The stewards, ranging in age from their late 20s to mid-50s, raise money for land maintenance through fundraising, grants, and by hosting workshops on building, gardening, and foraging. Some work remotely to cover personal expenses. The nonprofit has paid for insurance covering emergency medical transportation, and a clinic is located near the property.

The Bipoc Intentional Community Council, founded in 2020, supports Black and brown people in creating intentional communities by providing funding, workshops on forming nonprofits or land trusts, and connecting prospective members. Most intentional communities in the United States are majority white, a disparity the council attributes to greater access to capital needed for land acquisition and building. "There's this disconnect in how white communities conduct themselves that makes it uncomfortable for Black and brown people to continue to live with them," Bipoc Intentional Community Council board member Crystal Byrd Farmer said. "We are used to gathering in small groups and being together and supporting each other."