Drive a long block north of Kinsman Avenue on East 82nd Street and you’ll run smack dab into one of the most unique farming operations in the city, if not the state, and indeed, perhaps the entire U.S. It’s an urban farming operation called Rid-All Green Partnership, and it was the brainchild of three childhood friends, Damien Forshe, Randell McShepard and Keymah Durden. Mark White, an amazing and knowledgeable farmer, soon joined the team.
Damien, who was only in his early 50s, if that, died suddenly of a heart attack on Wednesday night. The operation, which took its name from the extermination business he started years ago, was a cutting-edge inspiration to all of us that till the soil. The greenhouses and fish farming operations he pioneered along with his partners stand as a testament to what can be accomplished if one has but the desire and determination.
When we established the Vineyards of Château Hough back in 2010, Damien was one of the first people to reach out to us and offer any assistance we might need. In the spirit of cooperative friendship (the kind many of us yearn for and wish would return to our society), we shared expertise, loaned each other equipment and supplies, shared great times and talked about our visions of a better time for our people by encouraging self-sufficiency.
I had some blocks of sandstone he could use at his operation, and a few months later, when I mentioned that I needed some pea gravel for a walkway, he showed up with a dump truck full and even brought workers to help our guys spread it.
The last time I saw Damien he brought a banker type he had recently met past the vineyard. It was someone that might have access to capital for urban farmers and he wanted us to share in any potential benefits that could emanate from the establishing of the relationship. But that was Damien, very giving to friends.
At that meeting, he told me about the cattle venture he was embarking on. Some business acquaintances had told him about this herd of cattle that was available due to the owner wishing to retire, and he was in the process of taking it over. Just imagine, a dude from the inner city of Cleveland herding cattle. But that was Damien, he could do anything he set his mind to, and he will be greatly missed.
R.I.P.
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.
2 Responses to “MANSFIELD: On the Passing of a Visionary”
Peanuts
May God go with him
Khamudah Riley
The Rid-All Green Brothers are
some of the nices, smartest and most fun brothers that I know and I just want to send all of them and the family my sincere condolences
RIP Bro.