“AfroPoP Digital Shorts” returns to the land with “Sweet Samara,” climate and abolitionist film

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After taking viewers to a Maryland farm fighting for Black liberation with the climate‑activist film The Aunties earlier this year, Black Public Media’s AfroPoP Digital Shorts series returns to the land — this time in a northern town — with Sweet Samara.

About Sweet Samara

The film follows a man on a mission to use maple syrup for abolition. It is now streaming on the Black Public Media YouTube Channel.

Sweet Samara is directed by New York City firefighter, Brooklyn resident, and Hampshire College alumnus Divad Durant.

Series Synopsis

Jalal Sabur is one of many farmers at Sweet Freedom Farm, a Black‑led farm using sustainable practices in Germantown, New York, about 100 miles north of New York City.

Sabur provides :

• fresh food to families torn apart by mass incarceration
• makes syrups
• reconnects with his ancestors

He also honors Indigenous communities who tended the land before him. Making syrup is hard work, but the product is sweet and joyous, much like the promise of liberation.

Throughout many seasons, Sabur and others tend the land in a laborious journey toward a full‑time working farm and the freedom it represents.

The film also captures how maple syrup played a role in the abolition fight by offering an alternative to sugar, which relied on enslaved labor. Sabur, whose father was incarcerated during his childhood, sees a clear connection to mass incarceration.

Key themes highlighted in the film

• Sustainable farming as a path to liberation
• Maple syrup as a historical abolitionist tool
• Community care for families impacted by incarceration

Watch the Film

Finally, you can watch Sweet Samara on the Black Public Media YouTube Channel.