Long leaf: 30 years of alternative living

Off Our Backs, May/Jun 2003 by Culver, Corky

Forty acres of oak trees dripping with Spanish moss; sandy clearings with pine needles sparkling in the sun; longtime friends as neighbors. My share, the equivalent of five acres, costs only $20 a month. Seems incredible, a pie-in-the-sky, but it's not. It's tangible and within reach of low-income women. The secret is cooperation-the grueling process of compromise and empowerment needed to make a collective work. Long Leaf, in North Central Florida, was completely paid for in 1981 and consists of forty acres shared equally by six women.

Its first phase began in 1969 when a group of women formed a lesbian Consciousness-Raising group, (commonly known as C-R groups). This C-R group was the first in the South as far as we knew and it was definitely the first lesbian-only political experience for any of us. A good bit of the excitement we felt at our first meeting was sheer terror. We were kicking over the traces, stepping into our own power and stepping out to get more.

As lesbians beginning to organize, we felt exhilarated and audacious. As threats to a patriarchal culture, we were afraid. Would the government cry, "Insurrection! Witches! Drop the nets?" And if it weren't enough having to buck the patriarchy, we had to brace ourselves against our fears of each other. We were mostly strangers coming from several counties and had met few lesbians at all, much less lesbians of many other lifestyles than our own.

Our distrust of each other was further paralleled by doubts about ourselves. Some of us had never wanted to admit to anyone, even ourselves, that we were lesbians. To the mainstream culture we were social workers, maids, teachers, med techs, architects, civil rights activists, artists, lawyers and students. We were just beginning to find our personal identities and gain pride in being lesbians.

We came to find ourselves both intimidating and gentle; we struggled and we eventually became friends who loved to sing long hours together. In fact, so fierce were our sports and political fights, the music was essential in maintaining friendships that were often severely tested by our class differences, personality differences, and political differences. Thankfully, in those days before women's music and solo stars, we all sang and played instruments. There were many rounds of "I Shall Be Released," and "Log Cabin Home in the Sky." It held us together. Part of the inspiration for buying the land was in the events we were creating with each other: the weekends of meetings, music, sailing and volleyball. After a lifetime of separation from other lesbians, we had bounty.

Our lesbian heaven was not all angel choirs and arm wrestling, though. During several years of steady meetings, we followed a three-part consciousness-raising format of (1) speaking from our own experience, (2) developing theory, and (3) action. From our stories common themes developed-love of nature and the community of women, backgrounds and expectations of economic hardship, alienation and anger at the values of the surrounding culture, fear of an old age of poverty and loneliness.

From those themes we began to be able to make generalizations and to formulate actions. We started a newspaper and used a second meeting hour to discuss buying land and the possibility of starting a business. We wanted the land for gatherings, for security and for a community close to nature that shared a perception that each blue-green clump of deer moss was precious magic.

After much heated and hopeful discussion, the by-laws we agreed upon were (1) Each individual will pay equal amounts in the total cost. (2) Right to membership will be forfeited after six months of non-payment. (3) All property (land) will be held in common. (4) No improvements, no trees or vegetation removed without the consent of the group. (5) Improvements of common concern, such as well drilling or the initial cost of installing telephone and electrical lines, will be shared. (6) No individual may transfer her share without consent of the group. (7) No business establishments will be on group property without consent of group. (8) Decisions will be made by consensus. (9) At shareholder's death, share will go back to group. Informally, we agreed to have separate houses and respect each other's privacy and autonomy. Most importantly, we agree to buy land affordable to all. There were hidden costs of course. The $20 a month did not include structures to live in, or the prices of wells, taxes, possible electricity, fences, of self-sufficient energy sources. The surrender of some individualism to the collective process was a large part of the price, as was the commitment and stamina to persevere in a long-term project.

These problems continue today. We still have trouble getting money for finishing houses and for making improvements, since we haven't reached a group agreement for using the land as collateral for loans. We realize that along with the benefit of the support of the group, we incur certain vulnerability. We feel at a great disadvantage pressing suit against intruders who dump trash on the land, and we hesitate to protest against zoning board decisions that deny us fair taxing because they heard we were a commune. Ironically, we now think that had we been more like a commune, and not so intent on investing first in separate houses, we might already have the lodge and swimming pool that will make residents and those on retreat more comfortable. Ah, hindsight! However, the plans formulated in our meeting shaped the course of things. With our peculiar combination of individualism and collectivity, we were underway.