10

An example is SWAFCA. In rural Alabama, 2000 poor black
farmers are joined together in the Southwest Alabama Farmers
Cooperative Association (SWAFCA). SWAFCA has been through a
literal hell since its organization in the Spring of 1967. An
OEO grant was vetoed by Governor ^Lurleen Wallace, but eventually over-
ridden by the Director of OEO. The co-op was hardly in operation
when, at the request of Alabama Congressmen, the General Accoun-
ting Office demanded its books. The delay held up a substantial
part of its government grant. Just as the audit was completed,
one of the federal audit officers had his brief case stolen, a
theft which held up the audit for another month. As the co-op
began marketing its members' cucumbers and okra, trucks carrying
the produce were stopped and held long enough to insure crop
damage before they were released. Within a month the FBI was