From mutual aid societies to freedom farms and credit unions — Black communities have been using cooperative economics as a tool for collective liberation, self-determination, and to resist the violence of racial capitalism for centuries.
What we call the “solidarity economy” wouldn’t exist without this history and practice. We honor these legacies, and celebrate the radical Black cooperators in our network and around the world who continue to lead the solidarity economy movement and make new and liberatory worlds possible everyday.
This list is just a start! Have more resources to add here? Send them our way at comms@neweconomy.net
Resources
Need a quick read
- A brief history of Black cooperatives in the U.S. – Zanetta Jones, Shareable*
- Black Co-ops were a method of economic survival – Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, GEO Collective*
- Black Women & the Cooperative Economy – Detroit Community Wealth Fund*
- Dangerous History: What the Story of Black Economic Cooperation Means for Us Today – Keane Bhatt, Yes Magazine
- Gunny Sack of Wisdom – Acres of Ancestry
- History of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives
- Sustaining the Rising Tide of Black Co-ops: An Ecosystem Approach – Omar Freila, Non Profit Quarterly
- Land, Resistance, and Liberation: Agricultural Cooperatives as a Vital Piece of Black History in the U.S. – Trina Jackson, Grassroots International
- The Role of Black Women in unions and Secret Societies – Black Solidarity Economy Fund
- Lessons from “Early Black Benevolent Societies, 1780-1830” – Black Solidarity Economy Fund citing Robert L. Harris, Jr.
Want to do a deep dive
- Collective Courage – by Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard
- Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson – by Kali Akuno and Ajamu Nangwaya of Cooperation Jackson*
- What must we do to be free? On the building of Liberated Zones – Ed Whitfield
- Why Black Feminists Use the term Solidarity Economy – Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
- Reaping What We Sow: The Decolonizing Root of Black Experiments with Cooperative Housing and Land Tenure – Hilary Malson
Want to learn about historical figures
- Black Co-op Ancestors & Co-ops x Abolition – Sadé Swift – pages 115-126 of the Cosmic Possibilities Zine
- We Shall Not Be Moved: The Sherrods & the Community Land Trust Movement – Audra Lim, Harpers Magazine
- Ella Jo Baker – Cooperative Hall of Fame
- Halena Wilson – Cooperative Hall of Fame
- Fannie Lou Hamer founds Freedom Farm Cooperative – SNCC Legacy Archives
- Thinking about a next system with W.E.B. Du Bois and Fannie Lou Hamer – Next System Project
- Frederick Douglass and Co-ops in 1846
- The Bluefield Experiment in Co-op Economics: Why It Matters for HBCUs Today – Non Profit Quarterly
Want to watch a video
- The Banker Ladies – Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
- Black Liberation and Worker Cooperatives – Cooperation Jackson*
- Cooperative Economics and Civil Rights – Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard on the Laura Flanders Show*
- Free The Land: Shirley Sherrod and Black Land Struggles in the South – Laura Flanders Show*
- Jessica Gordon Nembhard on Solidarity Economy Ecosystems – Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City*
- Reviving the Black Intentional Community Cooperative Movement – Parable of the Sower Cooperative* & Foundation for Intentional Community*
- Solidarity Economics – Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard
- Weaving Resist and Build Strategies to Win the World We’re Worthy of – Highlander Center
Want to listen to a podcast
- Jessica Gordon Nembhard on the History and Power of African-American Cooperatives – Shareable*
- The Ideology of Black-led Co-ops & the Solidarity Economy Ecosystem – Everything Co-op ft. NEC board member Stacey Sutton
- The Limitations of Black Capitalism – Upstream Podcast* ft. Francisco Perez
- Radical History: The Roots of Race & Class in the U.S – Upstream Podcast* ft. Dr. Gerald Horne
Want to learn in community
- Black Liberation Co-op Academy – NEC member Cooperation New Orleans*
- Return to Ghana – Cooperative Conference Exchange – October 2023 – Repaired Nations*
- North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship – Nexus Community Institute
- The National Conference On Black Cooperative Agenda
Want to learn about current organizing
- #BlackCoopsMatter Series – Elizabeth L. Carter
- Black-owned cooperative startups in the North End model opportunity for more equitable Detroit – Detroit Community Wealth Fund* & Seed Commons*
- Black Oregon Land Trust
- Building Black, Ecologically & Cooperatively – Earth Bound Building
- Cooperative Finance in Haiti and Grenada – Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
- Community Movement Builders Cooperatives
- East Bay food-justice movement has deep roots in Black Panther Party
- Indigenous and Black Communities Find Common Cause for Land Justice – Pennelys Droz, YEs Magazine
- LA Mall Purchase Would Be the Biggest Victory Yet for Community Driven Development
- Not Just Another Nut Milk: How One Brand Is Tackling Wealth Inequality – Nikishka Iyengar, Bon Apetit
- The Black Immigrant Women Who Bought a Minneapolis Mall
- Uplifting Afro-Indigenous Visionaries – Powershift Network*
Want these resources as a PDF?
