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This week we’re talking about models for reparations from the financial sector, renewed calls for rent cancellation and a People’s Bailout, a solidarity economy 101 primer, the Breathe Act and the upcoming Strike for Black Lives. We’re also celebrating our 2019-2020 cohort of New Economy Reporting Project fellows!
Stories From the Field
Banks Should Pay Reparations: In the absence of federal legislation, Angela Glover Blackwell argues that banks should take the lead on paying reparations, since they have acted as the “underwriters of American racism” for centuries. The Black Mass Coalition, which includes NEC member organization Boston Ujima Project, is a great example of local organizing to start to make that vision real — the coalition is calling for private banks, venture capital firms, and corporations to commit $1 billion to be invested in Black and Indigenous communities across Massachusetts.
Cancel Rent & People’s Bailout: As 28 million people are at risk of being evicted due to the COVID-19 crisis, it is clearer than ever that housing needs to be treated as a human right. Read this letter from Right to the City about the housing policies we need to protect public health, and tell Congress to cancel rent and pass a People’s Bailout via NEC member organization People’s Action.
Solidarity Economy 101: Wondering what the solidarity economy is and how it forms a cornerstone of a post-capitalist future? Check out this great primer to the solidarity economy written by Emily Kawano and Julie Matthaei of the US Solidarity Economy Network. Learn more about the nuts and bolts of how we build the solidarity economy in the context of COVID & Black Lives Matter in this World Social Forum panel with NEC member organizations the Kola Nut Collaborative, Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, Boston Ujima Project, and Cooperation Jackson.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Abolitionist Lessons from Southern Mexico: As early efforts to abolish police are under way in the U.S, Zapatista communities in Chiapas have been experimenting with self-organisation and community safety for decades. Read about how the Zapatistas democratically organize their communities across all spheres of life — from police and the justice system to health care, economy and education.
Co-op Boom in South Korea: In 2012, South Korea passed the Cooperative Framework Act, a law that drastically lowered legal barriers to co-op formation and allowed co-ops to be established in almost any sector. The results of the act have been dramatic — with over 15,585 cooperatives being formed between its passing in 2012 and 2019. The law is a brilliant example of how policy advocacy can support the development of the solidarity economy.
Participatory Housing in Zurich: Housing cooperatives have a long tradition in Switzerland and make up 18 percent of all apartments in Zurich. The Kalkbreite housing cooperative is a notable example, where community-members were included throughout the initial planning process and residents now cooperatively manage communal resources, run an emergency rent fund for their neighbors, and make decisions through democratic process. Read more via NEC member organization Shareable.
The Breathe Act
Last week, the Movement 4 Black Lives announced the Breathe Act — a visionary new piece of legislation that divests our taxpayer dollars from brutal and discriminatory policing and invests in a new vision of public safety and community care. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, includes calls to defund the police and provide new funding for community ownership, environmental justice, cooperatives, community land trusts, and more. Learn more about the Breathe Act.
Strike for Black Lives
Strike for Black Lives: This past June, more than 600 strikes or work stoppages took place in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. On July 20th, unions and movement leaders are planning the largest strike yet — expecting hundreds of thousands of workers to walk off the job in the name of dismantling racism and white supremacy. Learn more about the Strike for Black lives and find an action near you.
Movement News
- A Fair Wage and Ownership for Immigrants
- California Bill to Establish Nation's Second Public Bank Applauded as 'Historic Challenge to Wall Street Domination'
- ChiFresh Kitchen Gives Formerly Incarcerated Women a Second Chance
- Cooperative Ownership: A Covid Recovery Strategy
- For Food Co-ops, the Future Is Now
- Supreme Court Rules Nearly Half of Oklahoma Still Native American Territory
- How I Became a Police Abolitionist
- In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can’t Have Both.
- The Left Is Remaking the World
- The People Killed the Pipelines
- The Rise & Fall of Racial Capitalism
- The White Left Needs to Embrace Black Leadership
- To Solve the twin problems of racial injustice and climate change, we need to stop parachuting in ‘experts’
- U.S. town creates local currency to boost coronavirus relief
- We Don’t Farm Because It’s Trendy. Farming is not new to Black people. We farm as resistance, for healing and sovereignty
Podcasts of the New Economy
In this audio interview, The Forge explores how land, land tenure, and homeownership form the building blocks of racial capitalism. In the first part of the interview, Chrystel Cornelius of NEC member organization Oweesta, lays out how the theft of Indegenous lands created this country’s wealth, and the role of community finance in restoring Indigenous wealth and sovereignty. Then, Cy Richardson of the National Urban League and Tara Raghuveer of NEC member organization People’s Action break down the racist history of housing policy and explain how we can fight for housing as a human right.
Additional listens:
The Response Podcast: No Name Kitchen: Solidarity with asylum seekers “going on the game” in the Western Balkans
NEC on the Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram – @NewEconomyCoalition – Where we’re celebrating our 2019-2020 New Economy Reporting Project Fellows, who closed out their fellowship in early June! This was a brilliant and inspiring group of fellows who reported on a wide variety of stories related to finance and the solidarity economy. Read some of our favorite stories they’ve reported on recently and support their work!
Jobs
New Listings!
Communications Director, Allied Media Projects – Detroit, MI
Communication Manager, RIPESS – Barcelona – July 23
Director of Operations and Partnerships, Union Capital Boston – Boston, MA
Executive Assistant, Green America – Washington, D.C.
Financial Coordinator, Indigenous Climate Action – Canada/Remote – August 1
Operations Coordinator, Center for Story-based Strategy – Remote/Oakland – July 31
Organizing Director, Commonwealth Alliance Voter Engagement – Remote
Political Director, Action Center on Race and the Economy – Washington, D.C.
Project Officer, Cooperation Richmond – Richmond, CA
Various (Political/Organizer), National Young Farmers Coalition – Colorado/California
Vice President for Communications, PolicyLink – Oakland
Worker Cooperative Program Manager, Urban Upbound – Queens, NY
All Jobs
Associate Director: Media Strategy, Demos – New York, NY
Communications & Development Coordinator, Powershift Network – Remote
Communications Manager, Nellie Mae Education Foundation – Quincy, MA
Director of Investment, Boston Ujima Project – Boston, MA
Education Team Coordinator Highlander Center – New Market, TN
Food Security/Access Contributor, Food and Environment Reporting Network – Remote
General Coordinator, Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC – New York, NY
Grants Manager, Highlander Center – New Market, TN
MA Resident Owned Communities Intern, Cooperative Development Institute – Mass.
Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellow, Nathan Cummings Foundation – Remote
Partnership Engagement Director, Green America – Washington D.C./Remote
Program Manager, Capital Strategies Program, Transform Finance – New York City
Senior Manager: Individual Giving, Demos – New York, NY
Senior Communications Coordinator, Grassroots International – Boston, MA
Solidarity Philanthropy Director, Grassroots International – Boston, MA
Various Digital Disruption/Organizer Positions, Better Future Project – Cambridge, MA/Remote
Various (Movement Support/Admin/Instructors) – Social Movement Technologies – Remote
Web Developer, Foundation for Intentional Communities
Upcoming Events
Institute for Policy Studies Webinar Series: Borders in Moments of Crisis
Join the Institute for Policy Studies for a conversation on how the US and Israel are using COVID-19 as a pretext to militarize borders, and restrict the wellbeing of Indigenous and undocumented people. (July 16, 11:30AM – Online)
Developing Sustainable, Systems-based Business Strategy for the Post Covid19 World
Join American Sustainable Business Council with Sally Uren, CEO of international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future to hear their analysis of the dynamic areas we are seeing shaping the coming decade, and to explore points for preparation and intervention as the world rebuilds after COVID-19. (July 16, 1ET – Online)
Just Transition: You’ve Heard the Term, Now Hear the Story
Join the Labor Network for Sustainability to learn the history of the movement from those who played a part in its origins and the labor and environmental justice leaders who founded the Just Transition Alliance. (July 22 – Online)
Allied Media Conference
For over 20 years, AMC has been curated with care by people making media for liberation: film, radio, zines, dance, technology, magic, and much more. Organizers were already exploring how to grow the virtual components of AMC, in order to make the conference more accessible and do less harm to the environment. Due to the current global pandemic, AMC will be entirely virtual this year. Registration costs for the virtual AMC are on a sliding scale from $0-$600. (July 23-26 – Online)
Revitalizing Antitrust to Support Small Business and Fair Competition
Join American Sustainable Business Council as we discuss the role of monopoly power in the ongoing global pandemic and its direct impact on the small business sector. (July 23 – Online)
Equity, Justice, & Access in Digital Organizing
Join CCEDNet for a conversation to explore how local organizing principles and approaches can contribute to the creation of more sustainable, fair and inclusive economies. (July 24 – Online)
Nathan Schneider on "A Shared Strategy for Shared Ownership"
Nathan Schneider, author of Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy will speak on how the economic crisis Covid-19 makes having a visionary strategy essential. In his words: "We need to activate cooperative ownership as a powerful, necessary tool for confronting the crisis we're in, not just around the margins but in addressing central challenges facing the economy today." (July 28 – Online)
NASCO's Cooperative Leadership Certification
NASCO’s Cooperative Leadership Certificate is a professional development opportunity for those who are looking to advance their role or to start their career in cooperative housing (Application Open August 1)
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