In this week’s Roundup, we’re talking about the Student Intifada, building cooperative housing solidarity, Haitian peasant womens economies, and Sudan. Read through to the end for plentiful offerings like calls to action, toolkits, podcasts, jobs, and events.
Also, this spring we’re giving new monthly donors a free print by Creative Wildfire and Intelligent Mischief artist, Aisha Shillingford. Become a monthly donor by May 21st for a free gift and of course to support the critical work of our 150+ member organizations building solidarity economies on the ground — thank you!
Signs at the student encampment at Northwestern University.
Student Intifada Movement: In Rafah, Palestinians are trapped without a safe evacuation plan from looming Israeli attacks. Political leaders remain idle, but student-led encampments and uprisings are gaining rapid momentum with labor union and community support. Despite facing police brutality, media opposition, and repression, they remain steadfast in their demands for their universities to divest from Israel. Join the Solidarity Research Center this Nakba Day (May 15) for a student organizer-led training on sustaining liberated zones against genocide.
A Just Transition College on the Horizon: Cooperation Vermont is teaming up with the People’s Network for Land and Liberation (PNLL), including NEC members Cooperation Jackson and Community Movement Builders, to turn Goddard College into a community-owned space for transformational learning and community resilience. Goddard College, the alma mater of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, has announced it will close its doors this semester after decades of financial and administrative challenges. Though Goddard has yet to disclose information about the sale, Cooperation Vermont is hopeful they will be able to purchase the campus so it remains in the community as a hub for affordable housing and local production. Help them raise the money needed to buy the campus by donating here.
Co-ops Against Housing Insecurity: Shared ownership models like housing co-ops and various land trusts are cropping up across the US to combat the mounting housing crisis. A coalition of cooperatives in New York City are urging Mayor Adams to turn empty office buildings into affordable housing cooperatives. The East Boston Neighborhood Trust is fighting gentrification and displacement by safeguarding 114 affordable housing units in Eastie. A Presbyterian church community in Oregon is building permanently affordable housing outside of the private market. Cooperatives can lend to equity but solidarity requires practice. Join NEC members, Cooperative Economic Alliance of NYC and NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives, for their workshop series in Co-op City bridging tenants, unions, and worker cooperatives on May 16th.
Art by @eyes.on.sudan
#AllEyesOnSudan: The people of Sudan need urgent global attention as the civil war rages on into its second year. Violence, famine, and displacement continue to escalate as outside states back both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Even Sudanese refugees who have fled and are seeking safety abroad still face extreme violence, being disappeared, or killed. Despite the efforts of international aid, the situation remains dire, especially in besieged regions like El Fasher. You can support families funding evacuation plans for their relatives, food programs like Khartoum Aid Kitchen, and follow Sudan Solidarity Collective on Instagram to learn more and be responsive to emergent calls to action.
Rio Grande Mutual Aid: This week, hundreds of towns were left underwater after historic flooding in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. At least 90 people were killed, and over 150,000 displaced. More than 500 families from farming settlements have been affected. Support recovery and mutual aid efforts led by Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement (MST).
Haitian Women Building Solidarity Economies: Despite challenges posed by international intervention in Haiti’s elections and governance, Haitian resilience shines through. Peasant women are leading the charge against imperialism, fostering community self-determination through agroecology, food sovereignty, and solidarity economies. Still, women seeking prenatal care in the Dominican Republic are met with violence, armed groups in Haiti restrict food access, and asylum-seekers in the US face the loss of Temporary Protective Status. Support Haitian Bridge to amplify their calls to the US government to extend TPS.
“We will defend this life, we will resist on this land:” From October to January, the Turkish army carried out more than 650 airstrikes in Rojava, killing civilians and destroying essential infrastructure. In spite of this repression, people are showing strong resistance and determination to stay on the lands. Learn more about the history of the region, and how these attacks have affected the ongoing revolutionary processes of grassroots democracy, women’s liberation, and social-ecology.
Creative Wildfire is a project of Movement Generation, Climate Justice Alliance, and New Economy Coalition and supports artists and organizations to create art that fuels our movements and imagines the world we need to thrive. For ten months, artists collaborated with frontline climate and economic justice organizations from Buffalo, New Orleans, Richmond, Guam, Boston, Florida, and beyond. Check out the livestream from our art showcase where our cohort of seven brilliant artists presented their films, comics, multimedia installations, textile art, illustrations, and animations!
- A Land Back Victory on Haida Gwaii
- Arbitrary Arrests in South Sudan
- A Shareable Explainer: What is the Solidarity Economy?
- A water crisis in Mississippi turns into a fight against privatization
- After Lāhainā, Indigenous peoples call for independence
- Community members discuss ideas for Goddard College property after school’s closure
- D.C. Had the Country’s First TOPA Law. Could Real Estate Developers Gut It?
- How a Neighborhood Co-op Started by Teens Helped Communities Adopt Solar Power
- How bail funds are fighting new legal attacks on solidarity
- How Mexico’s Abortion Activists Care for Each Other—and Themselves
- Illegal real estate sales of Palestinian land are happening around the US
- Intentional Community and Capitalism
- Killing the Middlemen in the Rideshare Industry
- Minneapolis Uber and Lyft drivers say they’ll start their own rideshare co-op
- New Black-led and operated grocery co-op opens in Detroit’s North End
- The Indigenous Peoples Camp that calls for rights every April in Brazil
- The Political Organisation of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST)
- The Value of Susu: Economics, Mutual Aid, and Women’s Solidarity in Ghana
PODCASTS & VIDEO
Care Must Be a Collective Practice of Survival, Not a Site of Profit Extraction – Movement Memos
Stacey Sutton Ph.D. discusses her Solidarity Economy Research and Chicago’s Community Wealth Building Initiatives – Everything Co-op
TOOLS & CURRICULUM
Anti-Racist Facilitation Guide for Co-op Development
Weavings: Union, Worker-Owned Cooperatives (NEW FROM NEC)
Administrative Manager, Austin Cooperative Business Association
Communications Director, Center for Community Wealth Building
Communications Director, Thousand Currents
Controller, Thousand Currents
Cooperative Economics Small Business Manager, Unite Oregon
Development & Investment Relations Director, Black Farmer Fund
Executive Director, Corporate Accountability
Head Of Finance & Administration, Project Equity
Operations Intern, Means TV
Program & Communications Associate, Wellspring Cooperative
Program Coordinator, Austin Cooperative Business Association
Providers of Feasibility & Market Studies (RFP), Cooperacion Santa Ana
Research Fellow, Participatory Budgeting Project
Senior Director of Member Organizing, Justice Funders
Special Projects Coordinator, Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC
Tech Support Worker (NYC), Palante Technology Cooperative
Various Positions, Highlander Center
For more opportunities, check out this job board from NEC member the Post Growth Institute!
2024 Research Tools for Organizers Training Series
The corporation is the dominant organizational structure in our extractive political economy. Join LittleSis to learn how to find strategic information in public filings from corporations – like profits, executive pay, and major shareholders – and how to use that information in corporate campaigns. (May 16 – Virtual)
Union Co-op Solidarity Workshops
1199 SEIU, Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and the Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC (CEANYC) are joining forces to make Co-op City’s solidarity economy stronger! Workshop #1: Introducing a unionized, cooperative alternative to corporate home care: Cooperative Home Care Associates and more ideas to take care of each other. Workshop #2: Working to keep Co-op City an affordable place to live, and other democratic solutions to meet resident needs, like: food, home care, internet, banking, and beyond. (May 16 – NYC)
Mediation Training from a Social Justice Perspective
Explore the relationship between inequality, lack of inclusion and how conflicts develop and are resolved in mediation through lectures, interactive activities, analyses of (actual) videotaped mediation sessions, skill improvement, and roleplays. Participants will receive a mediation certificate of successful completion of the training from the Social Justice Mediation Institute. (May 17 – Virtual)
SE Spotlight on Food & Gardens
A key part of CEANYC’s work is getting groups together across sectors and movements. One way we’ll be making that happen in the coming months is by hosting a series featuring co-ops and community-controlled groups working in banking, housing, mutual, food, and beyond. Do you want to hear these remarkable groups tell you about their work so you can join them? Then this series is for you! (May 21 – Hybrid NYC)
This advanced workshop by Training for Change is for trainers wanting to deepen their skills in service of social justice movements. Building upon tools and concepts from Training for Trainers, this workshop is about expanding your self-awareness as a facilitator; advanced group dynamics around diversity, conflict, and strong emotions; and exposure to bold training tools. This workshop is for trainers seeking to explore their own range and abilities and who want concrete tools to deepen their craft. (May 21 – Durham, NC)
“If We’re Not Prepared to Govern, We’re Not Prepared to Win”: Worker Self Direction in this Movement Moment
Why does practicing worker self-direction matter in this political moment? Join representatives from seven worker self-directed nonprofits to explore this question and others, as we consider the liberatory potential, challenges, and limitations of worker self-direction in this movement moment. What does worker self-direction teach us about ourselves and our movement organizations? What does it teach us about what is needed to build the more beautiful world we know is possible? (May 22 – virtual)
Beyond the Settler State! From Black Ecologies to Indigenous Sovereignties
Join Black Land Liberation for a freedom cipher that will bring us beyond the settler state. Our panelists will dive into the complexities of Indigenous sovereignties, Black liberation beyond the state, and Black ecologies. The time is now to envision a world free of settler colonialism. The time is now to illuminate these settler structures and our own freedom strategies to move beyond them. The time is now to move beyond the settler state. Journey with us toward Black and Indigenous futurities. (May 23 – Virtual)
Cooperative Bookkeeping and Finance Workshops
A Bookkeeping Cooperative’s education branch works to build collective skills and confidence around resource management. Online workshops upcoming in 2024 include Cosmos Coaching Cohort for Non-Profits; Building Shared Futures: Planning with Budgets, Cash Flow, Reserves, & Savings; and the Financial Foundations series. (Monthly offerings June – Dec)
Introduction to Solidarity Economy Movements | Bilingüe en inglés y español
Solidarity economy movements are people-powered forces to protect what matters most. They draw on tools and traditions within many lineages, making them accessible to any community, anywhere. Join us 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. (June 5 – Virtual)
9th National Conference On Community and Restorative Justice
Join the National Association of Communities and Restorative Justice in this defining moment as we envision, explore, and take action to ensure community and restorative justice principles not only survive but thrive within our own lives, families, and communities, and as we reimagine the systems and structures that underpin our society. By joining together, you will create impactful connections, enable the exchange of ideas and knowledge, and provide experiences that inspire tangible change. Together, we have the capacity to establish a legacy that is inherently restorative, leaving a profound and enduring mark on our world. (July 29 – Aug 1 – Washington, D.C.)