This week, we’re talking about the escalating criminalization of solidarity in the US, building power through co-op housing, disaster cooperativism in Appalachia, a call to support Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan, Third World feminism, and the history of US intervention in Panama.

“Protesters hold a sign for Mahmoud Khalil in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday. The protest was held in front of Delaney Hall, the proposed site of an immigrant detention center. (Seth Wenig/AP)”

Criminalization of Solidarity: From the illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil and Dr. Rasha Alawieh, to the deportation of hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador against court orders — the past weeks have been marked by an alarming expansion of ICE and the “War on Terror” to criminalize solidarity, protestors, and immigrants broadly. Check out this new guide from NEC member Muslims for Just Futures for an in-depth breakdown of these “counterterrorism” measures, including legal analysis, case studies, and recommendations to help activists, organizers, and lawyers navigate these threats. See the Community Fight Back Toolkit from Center for Popular Democracy for resources on how to prevent deportations and detentions in your community. 

Building Power through Co-op Housing: More and more tenants, from DC to Hawai’i, are turning to cooperative housing as a means to fight back against rising rents and rampant displacement. In Miami, NEC member SMASH is taking this strategy one step further — using community-controlled housing as a “sanctuary” where organizers, queer youth, and residents threatened by climate gentrification can build collective power to organize for systemic change. Read more about SMASH’s theory of change and check out this study group curriculum from NEC member Cleveland Owns about what it takes to start and run a housing co-op. 

Disaster Cooperativism in Appalachia: In February, massive floods struck Eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia, only months after Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation across the region. Support ongoing mutual aid efforts (thanks to NEC member Appalachian Voices for compiling this list!) and learn how communities are practicing disaster cooperativism to survive and rebuild as these “historic” storms become increasingly common. Check out the Climate Survival Toolkit from NEC member Climate Mobilization to help prepare your community for future disasters and build collective power to address the root causes of the climate crisis. 

“A volunteer distributes food to people in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. (El Tayeb Siddig/ Reuters)”

Support Communal Kitchens in Sudan: Earlier this year, we published an explainer looking at the network of community kitchens and mutual aid infrastructure that’s been sustaining Sudanese people since the beginning of the counterrevolutionary war in 2023. In the past few weeks, an estimated 80% of these 1,460 community kitchens have been shut down as a result of the Trump administration’s massive cuts to USAID — putting millions of people at risk of starvation. Help to resource grassroots alternatives to foreign aid by supporting local mutual aid funds like Sudan Solidarity Collective and tuning into their upcoming workshops.

Third World Feminism: On March 8th, tens of thousands of women and genderqueer people around the world took to the streets to protest gender-based and state violence, rising inequality, and exploitation. Across the Global South, women face some of the worst impacts of imperialism and in response have developed powerful forms of resistance, “based on a return to the land and an alternative, familial, and cooperative economy.” Join Codepink for a popular education webinar on Third World Feminism and the Liberation of Palestine, or Mijente for a broadcast capturing translocal lessons from 8M on March 21st. 

Hands off Panama: Earlier this month, the White House ordered the military to draw up plans to “take back” the Panama Canal, this time with US corporations like BlackRock making the land grabs. The CIA mobilized the military to make the same plans only 35 years ago, resulting in a deadly invasion and occupation stored in the memories of Panamanians across generations – especially those still missing family and friends. Learn more about the legacy of interventionism, neoliberalism, and community resistance in Panamá in this new piece from NEC member organization Migrant Roots.

• “Endless Trauma”: Israeli Strikes Shatter Gaza Ceasefire as Blockade Starves Palestinian Population

• Baltimore residents take on environmental injustice in their communities

• Cuyahoga County, Ohio, freezes $3 million in Israel bonds

• EPA’s Zeldin terminates $20B in Biden climate grants

• How Healthcare Workers Are Defending Their Transgender Patients from Trump’s Attacks

• How Solidarity Economies Take Hold

• In Sub-Saharan Africa, wars damage Long COVID research and surveillance 

• Indigenous Food Reciprocity as a Model for Mutual Aid

• It’s Time for Funders To Put Their Money Behind Community Ownership

• Kurdish Women Journalists Who Work Under Constant Threat Have Lessons to Share

• Multiple Cop City RICO defendants file civil lawsuits on second anniversary of mass arrests in Atlanta

• Planning For Failure: The Stakes Are Too High Not To 

• Republicans want corporate oligarchy. We need economic democracy 

• Solidarity Economies: A Post-Capitalist Vision

• The simple truth carbon billionaires are hiding from you 

• The US Is Undergoing a Corporate Coup. Sudan Shows How Dangerous It Can Become.

• Trump’s attacks on South Africa are a punishment for independence 

• US to pay nearly $116M to settle lawsuits over rampant sexual abuse at California women’s prison

• Whose land is this land? Sisters, Native tribes begin process of land justice

PODCASTS & VIDEO

• Base Building in the Labor Movement with Greg Nammacher of SEIU Local 26 – Practical Radicals
• Components of Building a Solidarity Economy with Dr.Stacey Sutton and Assata Richards – Everything Co-op Podcast
• Mutual Aid 101: Building and Sustaining Projects with Stephanie Rearick and Julian Rose – Shareable
• Social Solidarity Economy in Palestine – Bisan Podcast
• The Process is the Punishment – Mainline ATL

TOOLKITS & RESOURCES 

• Community Schools & Co-governance: Lessons from Los Angeles and San Diego – Partners for Dignity & Rights
• Community Fight Back Toolkit – Center for Popular Democracy
• Mapping Community Ecosystems of Collective Care – Interrupting Criminalization
• New Study Shows Brain Drain in States with Abortion Bans – Center for Reproductive Rights
• Trump & GOP Stack the Deck Against Struggling Americans to Build a War and Mass Deportation Machine – National Priorities Project

ART 

• Special Collection: International Women’s Day – Palestine Poster Project

 

National Media & Communications Director, Critical Resistance
Research Coordinator, Movement Research Unit
Technical Assistance Program Manager, Loan Officer, and Membership Engagement Coordinator, The People’s Solar Energy Fund
Unpaid Ujima Fund Interns, Boston Ujima Project
Various Co-op Internships, NASCO

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 Co-ops!

 

On Third World Feminism and the Liberation of Palestine
Join the Palestinian Feminist Collective and CODEPINK during Women’s History Month for a popular education webinar on the revolutionary living histories and tradition of Third World feminist and women’s movements.  (Virtual – March 21)

Asian Affinity Pods: Lessons in Loving Our People and Building Pro-Blackness
Whether you are an Asian person working at a social change organization who is curious about participating in a racial affinity group, or someone who already has experience in practicing racial affinity or caucus work, Compass Point invites you to join this intimate virtual gathering where we explore the value of racial affinity work and connect our learnings to practices that support each other and our Black colleagues and comrades. (Virtual – March 21) 

Workshops4Sudan: Transformative Justice Beyond Punishment & the Carceral State
Workshops4Sudan is a new fundraising initiative of the Sudan Solidarity Collective. This workshop introduces participants to the core values and principles of transformative justice. At the core of the session is a framework of community accountability while centering the most vulnerable members in our communities. (Virtual – April 2) 

Resist & Build: Atlanta’s Legacy of Struggle and Visions for a Just Future
Join us for a powerful virtual conversation between renowned scholar Jessica Gordon Nembhard and frontline organizers in Atlanta as they explore the city’s rich history of resistance, collective building, and the ongoing fight for justice. This event is a prelude to the Resist & Build Summit on May 2-5, 2025. (Virtual – March 23) 

Transformative Justice Under Authoritarianism
Join Interrupting Criminalization and Yo No Fui for a discussion about abolitionist organizing rooted in transformative justice in the current context of authoritarian Argentina. (Virtual – March 26)

​​Getting Free Together Cohort
This series is hosted over 6 months, bringing together leaders and decision makers from up to 6 values-aligned organizations to learn from Spring Up and each other about how to practice sharing power and tackling conflict generatively within your teams and programs. This experience will invite 2-6 of your team members to learn, practice, and design new systems and tools to operationalize your values, including guidance and support sharing back with the rest of your team or community. (Virtual – Apply by April 1) 

Radical Visioning as Black Leaders
This learning series provides the time, spaciousness, peer support, and resources for Black people in leadership to grow their creativity and vision in order to reground in their purpose and increase their transformative impact on the organizations, communities, and movements they lead. (Virtual – April 4-25)

Intro to Story-Based Strategy
In this interactive, hands-on 5-hour session, participants will learn and practice the fundamentals of Story-based Strategy (SBS). This training helps organizers, activists, community leaders, and grassroots communications experts practice creative storytelling and critical narrative analysis. (Virtual – Application due April 6th)

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

Health Justice Commons Spring Political Ed Series
This series focuses on the intersections of ableism, medical racism, and environmental racism and their entanglements with the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC). It explores the historic and ongoing connections of big pharma with corporate polluters and legacies of eugenics and genocide around the globe. (Virtual – April 10). 

Discover the Benefits of Worker Co-ops
In this webinar, we’ll learn what it means to be a values focused business and practice the cooperative principles. We’ll talk about the basics of starting a worker owned business and look at some examples of start up planning. We’ll also discuss the benefits and challenges worker co-ops face from launching to doing business. (Virtual – April 16) 

Crash Course on Facilitating Disagreement
The Left needs to skill up in our ability to handle disagreement inside of our strategy and planning meetings so we turn towards each other, instead of turning on each other. This Crash Course on Facilitating Disagreement from AORTA is a 2 hour online training that offers practical meeting tools to surface differences early, cut through the tension, and carve out a path forward. (Virtual – April 24)

Resist & Build Summit
Join us in Atlanta to explore post-capitalist futures and forge connections between resistance movements and alternative institutions. Features include strategy sessions, workshops, plenaries, and a “Carnival Beyond Capitalism.” (Atlanta – May 2-5)

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 Cooperators 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. A four-day conference featuring dozens of panels, lectures, and workshops organized by groups from all over the country. (Chicago, IL – July 3-6)