In this week’s New Economy Roundup, we’re talking about policy tools to advance Indigenous sovereignty and land return, how to set up a mutual aid fund, new research about Latinx Co-ops, an upcoming event with the Rising Majority to put capitalism and white supremacy on trial, and more.
Stories From the Field
Celebrating Indigenous People’s Day: There is no new economy without #LandBack, #WealthBack and Indigenous sovereignty. And as the Indigenous Environmental Network writes, “there is no climate justice without Indigenous sovereignty. There is no housing justice when Native people are dispossessed from their lands. The struggle of Native Nations to survive, thrive, and have self-determination is core to our work to visualize a better future.” Get policy tools and learn more in the Indigenous Sovereignty plank of a People’s Orientation to a Regenerative Economy. Also be sure to check out NDN Collective’s new LANDBACK campaign, launching this Monday, October 12th in honor of Indigenous People’s Day.
People-Powered Housing: While COVID’s economic impacts have accelerated a nation-wide housing crisis, communities are mobilizing to meet the moment and utilizing creative tactics to win back their housing rights. From the Bay Area to Philadelphia, organizers are occupying homes and winning their transfer to community land trusts. In states like New York and Massachusetts, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase legislation is being reintroduced, which would create a legal mandate for landlords to give first right of purchase to existing tenants. Get policy tools to advance strategies like these and create permanent, affordable housing in your community.
How to set up a Mutual Aid Fund: During the pandemic and uprisings, thousands of local mutual aid projects have blossomed across the country. The STL Mutual Aid Fund, anchored by NEC member organization Solidarity Economy St. Louis, is one hugely successful example of community care in practice — the fund has redistributed close to $557,000 to 880 people during the pandemic. Learn how STL Mutual Aid designed and operates their fund, and get all your legal questions answered in this new Mutual Aid Legal Toolkit from NEC member organization the Sustainable Economies Law Center.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Internationalism or Extinction: Formed in May 2020, the Progressive International’s mission is to unite, organize, and mobilize progressive forces in a common front for a democratic, decolonized, post-capitalist future. It includes groups that represent millions of people around the world. Earlier this month, the PI’s inaugural summit, Internationalism or Extinction, set out to reclaim our shared future by mapping our current crisis and solutions like mass debt cancellation and a global Green New Deal. Watch the inaugural summit of the Progressive International.
#FoodSovereigntyNow: Food sovereignty is defined as peoples’ right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced with ecologically sustainable methods. Watch this short video to learn about the youth movement for food sovereignty and peasant agroecology in Nicaragua and join La Via Campesina’s International Day of Action for Peoples’ Food Sovereignty and against transnational corporations this October 16th.
Latinx Co-op Power
Latinx people have long been an influential and integral part of the U.S. cooperative movement. This summer, the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives conducted the first national compilation of U.S. Latinx cooperatives of all co-op types and sectors. Research for this report was conducted in collaboration with renowned scholar Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, professor and author of Collective Courage. In celebration of both Latinx Heritage Month and Co-op Month, check out the research and support Latinx co-ops in your community.
Movement News
- 40 Groups Demand Congress Probe ‘Gross Misuse’ of $1 Billion in Covid-19 Funding by Pentagon
- A More Equitable and Just Recovery with Employee Ownership
- A Tale of Two Viruses – Neoliberalism & COVID-19
- Abolition for the People
- Briarpatch Magazine: The Land Back Issue
- For Small Farms, Co-ops Are a Lifeline
- Grantmaking: The Black Liberation Pooled Fund
- Mutual Aid Response During Fires Shows Black Lives Matter Is Building Community
- Populism Is the Key to Climate Action
- Puerto Rico, Home of the Department of Food
- What Black liberation looks like: 40 acres in Auburn, Washington
- Worker Co-Ops: Weathering The Storm Of COVID-19
Podcasts of the New Economy
On the latest episode of the “Stories Behind Our Food” podcast, NEC member organization Equal Exchange talks with Shirley Sherrod about the half century she’s spent seeking justice for Black farmers. Tune in to hear about the history and radical structure of New Communities Inc. — the first community land trust in the U.S. — founded as a refuge for Black farmers in the Civil Rights movement.
Additional Listens:
The Red Nation Podcast – Land Back
The Politics of Everything – Is California Doomed to Keep Burning?
NEC on the Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram — @neweconomycoalition — where we’re talking about The Freedom Side: A People’s Tribunal and Congress! Hosted by the Rising Majority, #TheFreedomSide is a two day event to vision and build a just world, together. On October 17, with jurors including Angela Davis, Tom Goldtooth, and Arundhati Roy, we will put the current system on trial, outlining all the ways in which it has harmed our communities. On October 18, we will envision the world we so desperately want, and outline the steps we can take to create it. Learn more, register, and join us on #TheFreedomSide.
Jobs
New Job Listings!
Assistant Project Manager (New England), Cooperative Development Institute – Oct 21
Digital Communications Assistant, Center for Partnership Studies – Oct 23
Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives, PUSH Buffalo – Nov 6
Director of Education & Training, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives – Oct 15
Just Transition Organizer, Justice Funders – Bay Area – Oct 30
Managing Director, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives – Oct 15
Network Liaisons, Allied Media Projects – Detroit – Oct 30
Participatory Planning & Research Associate, Bronx Cooperative Development Institute – Oct 30
Senior Policy Analyst: Economic Democracy, Demos – New York, NY
All Jobs
Communications Coordinator, Beautiful Trouble – Remote
Director of Affordable Housing Development, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board – New York, NY
Director of Investment, Boston Ujima Project – Boston, MA
Executive Director, Class Action – Boston/Remote
Grants and Contracts Manager, Democracy at Work Institute – Oakland, CA/Remote
Marketing & Communications Coordinator, East Bay Permanent Real Estate Coop – Bay Area
Research Director, MSI Integrity – Remote – Oct 12
Senior Organizer, Action Center on Race and the Economy
Senior Manager: Individual Giving, Demos – New York, NY
Various (Organizing, Community Development), PUSH Buffalo – Buffalo, NY
Upcoming Events
Schumacher Conversations: Winona LaDuke and Leah Penniman
Winona LaDuke and Leah Penniman will reflect on food sovereignty and community land stewardship given current political, economic, and social realities. (Today at 2pm ET! Online)
Activating the Cultural Power of a Movement
Artists, cultural organizers and activists are critical ingredients to galvanize a mass movement. Join leaders from the US Department of Arts and Culture, Movement 4 Black Lives, Poor People’s Campaign, Sunrise Movement and more to share learn strategies for building cultural and movement power together. (Oct 9 – Online)
Taking Back Our Economy: Reversing Inequality & Rebuilding Local Economies Post-Pandemic
The pandemic has sped up unsustainable and unjust trends in our economy. Join Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins, and Stacy Mitchell for a reality check on these challenges and concrete actions we can all take to build vibrant, just, and sustainable local economies even now. (Oct 15 – Online)
REMAKING THE ECONOMY: Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Justice
Nonprofit Quarterly, in partnership with First Nations Development Institute will host a webinar that features three indigenous leaders discussing how to address climate justice and work toward a just transition. (Oct 15 – Online)
40th Annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture: Land as a Commons: Building the New Economy
Kali Akuno and George Monbiot will speak addressing the topics of land access, the problems generated by a concentration of ownership, and ways of creating a more fair and equitable system. (Oct 25 – Online)
Platform Cooperatives Now!
Platform cooperatives are a tool for creating quality jobs and a democratic digital economy on a large scale. This course, running from October through January will cover all things platform co-op — from theory to practice and incubation. (Begins Oct 26 – Online)
Study Groups & Local Co-op Development
In 2016 the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) launched the 20 Book Clubs, 20 Cooperative Businesses initiative to grow Philadelphia’s co-operative economy, particularly for Black, Brown, and immigrant working class and poor communities. In this workshop, we will discuss and explore the uses and forms of study for building strong co-operative ecosystems. (Oct 26 – Online)
Black Trust: Chuck Turner Arts & Lecture Series
Join Boston Ujima Project for the next event in their #BlackTrust series with Dr. Caroline Hossein: The Black Social Economy: Valuing the Informal. (Oct 26 – Online)
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