This week we’re talking about why defunding the police and reinvesting in our communities can’t wait, putting racial justice and anti-militarism at the heart of climate solutions, a new worker-owned internet provider in New York, plans to tax the rich in Latin America, how you can support Black-led solidarity economy organizing, and more.
Stories from the Field
Defund Police, Reinvest in Community: Ma’Khia Bryant, Adam Toledo, Daunte Wright, Iremamber Sykap, George Floyd, and too many others should still be here today. We stand with our members, movement partners, and all those taking to the streets in affirming that Derek Chauvin’s conviction is not justice, and that we must continue to push for abolition and build systems of real community safety and well-being that make police obsolete. Support the BREATHE Act, build up your Abolitionist Toolbox, and check out pages 114-123 of Project Nia’s new Youth Guide to Abolition to explore how cooperatives and abolition go hand-in-hand.
Racial Justice is Climate Justice: This Earth Day, NEC members and movement partners are in solidarity with the planet and frontline communities. The Movement 4 Black Lives just released their Red, Black, and Green New Deal platform, Climate Justice Alliance is calling for a just transition within the Green New Deal, and NEC member organization Powershift Network is holding a day of action as part of their annual climate justice convergence. Get plugged in!
Internet for the People: After four years on strike, Spectrum workers in New York City have banded together to build the world’s first worker-owned internet service provider! Read more about how People’s Choice Communications is putting their people back to work, closing the digital divide with cooperative power, and building community-owned platforms for organizing.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Worldwide Workers’ Revolt Against Amazon: Bessemer was just the beginning. From Italy to Germany to India, read about how “Amazon workers around the world are banding together in an international struggle against the world’s fourth most valuable company and its grueling working conditions and intensive surveillance.”
Wealth Tax in Chile: This week, Chilean lawmakers approved landmark legislation to tax super-rich individuals to finance a basic emergency income. To date, 2.3 million families in Chile have become economically vulnerable during the pandemic, while the eight richest people in the country, including President Piñera, have increased their fortune by more than 70 percent. Read about plans to tax the rich across Latin America.
International Day of Peasant Struggle: April 17th marked the International Day of Peasant Struggle, which pays tribute to the 21 landless workers who were killed 25 years ago by Brazilian military police. Hear reflections from La Via Campesina about the state of landless workers movements around the world, and how food sovereignty offers an alternative to the dominant capitalist relations of production.
No Warming, No War
This Earth Week, we’re throwing it back to this “No Warming, No War” report released last year by NEC member organization the Institute for Policy Studies. Learn how militarism and the climate crisis are deeply intertwined and mutually reinforcing, and why true climate solutions must have antimilitarism at their core.
Movement News
- 34 states are considering anti-protest bills
- A Legacy of Education: First Legacy Community Credit Union
- A Third of U.S. Billionaire Wealth Gains Since 1990 Have Come During Pandemic
- After More Than 20 Years Of Work, Community Farm Coming To La Villita Park Next Year
- Decolonization or Extinction: Indigenous Red Deal Lays Out Plan to Save the Earth
- East New York CLT Seeks to Put Ownership in the Hands of the People
- “Justice Looks Like Abolition”: A Minneapolis Organizer on the Chauvin Verdict
- L.A. Plans to Launch Guaranteed Basic Income Program
- Law enforcement has received $500,000 in Enbridge money for work related to Line 3
- Let Other Countries Copy the Covid Vaccines
- Our house: Could co-ops help solve Madison’s housing crisis?
- Reparative Capital for Marginalized Communities
- Resuscitating Normalcy Will Kill Us. What We Need Is a Just Recovery.
- This new bill wants to bring the Green New Deal to a city near you
- This Real Estate Co-Op is Looking for Investors Who Want to Put Community First
Podcasts of the New Economy
“Unions and Worker Cooperatives are two forms of worker organizations focused on fighting for justice in solidarity. However, Unions and Co-ops fulfill different functions. What similarities do they share? What can they learn from one another? And how can they work together to achieve the goal of worker emancipation?” Tune into this episode of All Things Co-op from Democracy at Work to learn more.
Additional Listens
Did We Go Too Far?! – Queer Ecology & Fashion
For a Better World – Money and Power: The Unnamed Ingredients
Local Energy Rules – Community Solar Collective Gives Member-Owners Power
Millenials are Killing Capitalism – “A Really Deep-Seated Notion of Love” – The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth
NEC on the Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram — @neweconomycoalition — where we are sharing about our newly-launched Black Solidarity Economy Fund! As of this week, NEC members and contributors have pledged $95,000 to redistribute to Black-led solidarity economy organizing. Will you help us get the fund to $100,000?
Jobs Board
New Listings!
Affordable Housing Project Associate – Co-op Improvement Program, UHAB – NYC
Capital Campaigns Co-Director, Minnow
Co-Director of Leadership Programs, Justice Funders – May 14
Communications and Outreach Director, Peoples’ Hub
Communications Coordinator, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Cultural Strategist, Economic Security Project
Data Wrangler & Analyst, Catalyst Cooperative
Grant Writing and Research Intern, NASCO
Loan Fund National Field Organizer, Right to the City
Membership Coordinator, Grassroots Asian Rising
National Director, Grassroots Asian Rising
Social Impact Data & Research Intern, NASCO
Software & Data Engineer, Catalyst Cooperative
Strategic Storytelling Co-Director, Minnow
All Jobs
Campaign Organizer, New Economy Project
Co-Executive Director, Powershift Network
Communications Lead – Black Farmer Fund – April 22
Community Broadband Outreach Organizer, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Culture and Communications Associate, Boston Ujima Project
Deputy Communications Director, Movement 4 Black Lives
Development Manager, Project Equity
Executive Director or Co-Director Team, Resource Generation
Media 2070 Campaign Manager, Free Press
Project Coordinator, MAYDAY Space – May 12
Various Positions, Action Center on Race and the Economy
Various Positions, Color of Change
Various Positions, Center for Popular Democracy
Various Positions, Dream Defenders
Various Positions, NDN Collective
Various Positions, Highlander Center
Various Positions, PUSH Buffalo
Various Positions, Right to the City
Upcoming Events
Post-Capitalism Conference
The conference is envisioned as a virtual space for grassroots organizations, community activists, educators, students, and others committed to social and environmental justice to come together to exchange experiences/information, strengthen alliances and networks, and devise strategies to create an explicitly post-capitalist society using the “Solidarity Economy” framework. (April 22 – 25)
Militarism, Climate Change & Global Dissent
From the carbon boot-print of military activity to the wider costs of conflict; from corporate greed to the role of militarized suppression of dissent – this session will look at the critical intersections between militarism and the climate crisis – and how these can be challenged. (April 23)
Building our Labor Movement: Workplace Organizing & the PRO Act
Join the Western Massachusetts labor movement for a May Day town hall to discuss how we can build a stronger labor movement through workplace organizing and the Protect the Right to Organize Act. (April 27)
Vision Power Solutions: Community-Driven Planning for Racial and Climate Justice
How do communities define and design for themselves? How do we define our own challenges, identify our own assets and strengths, our priorities, our biggest threats and our unique approaches to resilience, climate, and justice? This 12-week workshop series builds facilitative leadership capacity among facilitators, organizers, leaders, and educators from (and accountable to) Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. (May 20, 2021 – March 2022)
Histories of the Working Class in North America
Hosted by The People’s Forum, this series is driven by a commitment to better understand the history of working class life and struggle in order to learn lessons that can be applied in the class struggle today. (May 25, June 23, July 28)