Tale of the Farm Slaves

There once was a man who inherited a large sharecrop farm in the Deep South.  It was when slavery was still prevalent and accepted by many. However, he was an abolitionist and abhorred the situation on the farm.  And yet, there wasn’t much he could do about it at the time except treat his workers fairly and humanely, and feed them well.

Together, they converted the sharecrop into a worker's cooperative and grew it into an expansive enterprise. Many years later, at a ripe old age, the man and his wife retired to a vineyard. Before doing so, they were able to set the slaves free through years of political action, and left the cooperative in their sole possession.

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From wikipedia:  Sharecropping is when a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land...

The practice was harmful to tenants with many cases of high interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and unscrupulous landlords and merchants often keeping tenant farm families severely indebted. The debt was often compounded year on year leaving the cropper vulnerable to intimidation and shortchanging.[12] Nevertheless, it appeared to be inevitable, with no serious alternative unless the croppers left agriculture...

Sharecropping became widespread in the South as a response to economic upheaval caused by the end of slavery during and after Reconstruction. Sharecropping was a way for poor farmers, both white and black, to earn a living from land owned by someone else. The landowner provided land, housing, tools and seed, and perhaps a mule, and a local merchant provided food and supplies on credit. At harvest time, the sharecropper received a share of the crop (from one-third to one-half, with the landowner taking the rest). The cropper used his share to pay off his debt to the merchant... 

In Reconstruction-era United States, sharecropping was one of few options for penniless freedmen to support themselves and their families... 

After the Civil War, plantation owners had to borrow money to farm, at around 15 percent interest. The indebtedness of cotton planters increased through the early 1940s, and the average plantation fell into bankruptcy about every 20 years. It is against this backdrop that the wealthiest owners maintained their concentrated ownership of the land... 

Though the arrangement protected sharecroppers from the negative effects of a bad crop, many sharecroppers (both black and white) remained quite poor. Arrangements typically left a third of the crop to the sharecropper.

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From wikipedia:  A worker cooperative is a cooperative that is owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by every worker-owner who each have one vote... 

According to an analysis of all businesses in Uruguay between 1997 - 2009, worker cooperatives have a 29% smaller chance of closure after controlling for variables such as industry. 

... worker cooperatives being more likely than capitalist firms to cut wages instead of laying off employees during periods of economic difficulty... 

In the Mondragon Corporation, the world's largest worker cooperative, the pay ratio between the lowest and the highest earner was 1:9 in 2018. The ratio is decided by a democratic vote by the worker-members.[15] By comparison, the ratio between CEO pay to average earner in top 350 US companies was 1:321 in 2018. 

... worker cooperatives are more productive than conventional businesses... 

... worker cooperatives are the only form of enterprise that fosters social trust between employees..

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Lord, I've really been real stressed, down and out, losing ground
Although I am black and proud, problems got me pessimistic
Brothers and sisters keep messin' up, why does it have to be so damn tuff?
I don't know where I can go to let these ghosts out of my skull
My grandma past my brother's gone, I never at once felt so alone
I know you're supposed to be my steering wheel, not just my spare tire
(Home!) But Lord, I ask you
(Home!) to be my guiding force and truth
(Home!) For some strange reason it had to be
(Home!) he guided me to Tennessee

Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan

Lord it's obvious we got a relationship
Talkin' to each other every night and day
Although you're superior over me
We talk to each other in a friendship way
Then outta nowhere you tell me to break
Outta the country and into more country
Past Dyesburg and Ripley
Where the ghost of childhood haunts me
Walk the roads my forefathers walked
Climb the trees my forefathers hung from
Ask those trees for all their wisdom
They tell me my ears are so young (Home)
Go back, from whence you came (Home)
My family tree, my family name (Home)
For some strange reason it had to be (Home)
He guided me to Tennessee (Home)

Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan

Now I see the importance of history
Why my people be in the mess that they be
Many journeys to freedom made in vain
By brothers on the corner playin' ghetto games
I ask you, Lord why you enlightened me
Without the enlightenment of all my folks
He said, cuz I set myself on a quest for truth
And he was there to quench my thirst
But I am still thirsty
The Lord allowed me to drink some more
He said what I am searching for are
The answers to all which are in front of me
The ultimate truth started to get blurry
For some strange reason it had to be
It was all a dream about Tennessee
Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan

Take me to another place, take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan
Oh, won't you let me, won't you help me
won't you help me understand your plan
Take me home, take me home, home, take me to another place
Take me home, take me home, home, take me to another plac