News & Resources

Black Co-op Legacies, Fascism vs Solidarity Economies, Climate Action in DRC

Feb 5, 2025 | New Economy Roundup

This week we’re celebrating Black History Month and talking about Black cooperative practices from Ohio to Jamaica and Ghana, solidarity economy responses to the Trump administration, artist-led solidarity economy models, climate action in Congo, Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan, and more!

 

A mural at the Detroit People’s Food Cooperative. Photo provided by the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective.

Black Co-op Legacies: Last year, Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s book, Collective Courage, celebrated 10 years of inspiring cooperators around the world. More and more Black-owned cooperatives are using the book to ground their work in the deep histories and liberatory potential of solidarity economics. As Stacey Sutton put it, “in 95% of the [Black solidarity economy ecosystems] I visited in my research, they’re all using Collective Courage as a way of organizing.” Hear how NEC members like Co-op Dayton, Kola Nut Collaborative, Seed Commons, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, and GEO Collective have all been deeply influenced by the book not only as a historical reference, but as an organizing tool and methodology towards practicing cooperation among cooperatives. 

“Trump vs the Solidarity Economy:” As the Trump administration continues to rollback protections, rollout new fascist policies, and let unelected billionaires seize state power — communities are standing their ground and coming together to keep each other safe. Cooperative ownership has always been a tool for community defense (check out the history of how the first community land trust was formed by Black civil rights activists) and the solidarity economy movement has an important role to play in countering this rising authoritarianism and the criminalization of solidarity. Here’s some offerings on how NEC members and other solidarity economy groups are positioning themselves to take care of our communities in this moment: 

Artists Building Solidarity Economies at Home: How are arts and culture groups who are fed up with the current system of extraction building solidarity economy models at home? Last week, we heard from four of Art.Coop’s Remember the Future Fellows — Artisans Co-op, Acres of Ancestry, MeansTV, and Groupmuse — about how they are challenging dominant “winners-take-all” practices by developing cooperative and solidarity economy models. Check out the recording and slides from the event.

 

A concert in Goma for the launch of Notre Terre Sans Pétrole (Our Land Without Oil), October 2024. Photo via X/Notre Terre Sans Pétrole.

Fighting Extractivism in the DR Congo: In October 2024, after years of organizing, Congolese climate justice groups successfully paused the sale of oil and gas leases in the Congo Basin. The Congo Basin is home to 80 million people and vital tropical ecosystems that act as a natural carbon sink. While activists celebrated the lease cancellations, Congo continues to face the worst impacts of climate change, war, and neocolonialism as multinational tech giants extract minerals through a “Rwanda-backed militia committing genocide along DRC’s eastern border.” Learn more about the current context in Goma, eastern Congo and the history of imperialism and struggle for self-determination in the DRC.

Emergency Response Rooms: Rooted in the Sudanese spirit of nafeer and the existing infrastructure of neighborhood Resistance Committees, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are local mutual aid networks that have been sustaining the Sudanese people since the beginning of the brutal war in April 2023. Thousands of volunteers across 700+ ERRs are running communal kitchens, providing medical care, repairing water and electricity lines, evacuating civilians, and more. They’re an incredible example of large scale mutual aid and solidarity economy infrastructure, even as they continue to face repression. Check out our ERR reading list and help sustain this lifesaving work by giving to the Sudan Solidarity Fund.

Repaired Nations in Jamaica, Ghana & Tanzania: NEC member Repaired Nations is a global network that works to repair the effects of colonization and economic marginalization through education, funding, and infrastructure for Black-owned cooperatives. This year they are expanding their 7th Annual Black Solidarity Co-op Conference Tour, and offering cultural exchanges in Jamaica (July), Ghana (October), and Tanzania (November). The trips aim to build connections across the Diaspora, while supporting local co-ops and solidarity economy enterprises. Learn more and submit your interest form here.

 

PODCASTS & VIDEO

PUBLICATIONS 

 

Beginning Farmer Fellowship, Unadilla Community Farm – West Edmeston, NY
Business Manager, Garrity Tools Co-op
General Manager, Park Slope Food Co-op
Unpaid Ujima Fund Interns, Boston Ujima Project
Various Positions, Appalachian Voices

If you’re hiring, consider submitting to The Roundup.
For more opportunities, check out this job board from NEC member Post Growth Institute and this one from the U.S. Federation of Worker Coops!

 

Financial Foundations Series with A Bookkeeping Cooperative
Start here! Financial foundations covers basic financial terms and the four core financial reports (budget, cash flow, profit & loss, balance sheet) as tools to support your group’s goals. (Virtual – 4 week series in February and April) 

Our Future Economy: Transforming Economies for Communities, Workers and Climate Wellbeing
Our Future Economy invites people from Richmond and beyond to join in-person or virtually and learn to transform economies for all workers, communities, and climate wellbeing. (Richmond, CA – Feb 12) 

Solidarity Economy Movements 101
Join Solidarity Economy Principles Project to explore what a solidarity economy movement is, how it works, and ways we can stay oriented to movement-building even as we navigate against the tides of capitalism and oppression.Applications to the 2025 SE Community of Practice are now due on Feb 10 (Apply here / Aplica aquí). (Virtual – Feb 12) 

Governance and Scale: What we can learn from Ecology and Global Social Movements
When thinking about governance in our movement homes, what can we learn from principles of ecology?  How can we build movements that can govern not just within our organizations, but at the appropriate scales necessary for truly transformative change? Join Gopal Dayaneni for module one of Collaborate to Co-liberate, see the full schedule here. (Virtual – Feb 12)

We Can’t Be Abolitionists and Conflict Avoidant
This is an experiential workshop on how to stop being conflict avoidant, cultivate accountability and engage in generative conflict & repair, to collectively inscribe abolition on the agenda of our futures and liberation on the map of our collective body. (Virtual – Feb 13)

Book Launch: The Banks We Deserve
Join the National Bankers Association for the launch of The Banks We Deserve by journalist Oscar Perry Abello. (DC – Feb 13) 

PB Seeds California – Participatory Budgeting Project
The PB Seeds program connects and equips leaders and advocates across California with knowledge, tools, and networks in order to advocate for Participatory Budgeting in their communities. Do you want to bring PB to your community? Our first learning cohort is launching in spring 2025. (CA – Apply by Feb 15) 

Mutual Aid Learning 101 Series
Mutual aid is a tool to build community and meet basic needs while developing a shared political understanding. That’s why Shareable is launching a four-week Mutual Aid 101 Learning Series. The sessions are open to all, but is designed for those just getting started to learn from seasoned mutual aid organizers and activists. All sessions will happen over Zoom with Spanish interpretation and captions. (Virtual – Feb 19 through March 12) 

Crash Course on Facilitating Decision Making
Join AORTA, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace, Dissenters, and Amplify Georgia Collaborative for a 2 hour training. (Virtual – Feb 25) 

Building Austin’s Black Cooperative Movement
Join us for an IN-PERSON interactive discussion how Black community business ownership can anchor communities and slow gentrification. (Austin, TX – Feb 26) 

Community Defense with Grassroots Global Justice
Learn from international partners who preserved their institutions, communities, and themselves from right-wing authoritarian governments. We will also learn how others are preparing to fight back and defend our communities through the launch of GGJ’s first campaign. (Virtual – Feb 27) 

Offers and Needs Market
Join the Post Growth Institute for their virtual offers and needs market.  (Virtual – Feb 27) 

Next Economy MBA
The Next Economy MBA is a nine-month course created by LIFT Economy to equip social impact leaders with the tools they need to help create an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy. In addition to bi-weekly facilitated course sessions, office hours to dive into deeper learning, and practical resources from the LIFT team, participants in the Next Economy MBA program will join a 500+ strong alumni network. (Virtual – Begins March 2025) 

Introductions to Building Forum Theater
This training will introduce participants to Theater of the Opressed NYC’s process of creating forum theater performances. This training is for comunity organizers, artists, and community members who plan to use forum theater to engage groups in aciton toward social change. (Virtual – April 7-21)

2025 National Radical Black Organizing Conference
Bigger! Blacker! Better! Black left forces are gathering to organize with our people. The theme for this year’s conference is “Base-Building for Collective Power.” (Indianapolis – May 30-June 1) 

Learning from Feminist Co-operators in the Americas
Black feminist co-operators engage in globalizing solidarity economies through a specific form of mutual aid to meet livelihood needs. (London – June 3) 

Socialism Conference 2025
The Socialism conference is a center of political education rooted in ideas, perspectives, and strategic debate. Our purpose is to provide a forum for addressing not just the “how,” but especially the “what” and “why” of left politics and social movements. A four-day conference featuring dozens of panels, lectures, and workshops organized by groups from all over the country. Save the Date for Socialism 2025! (July 3-6 2025 – Chicago, IL)

 

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