This week we’re focused on Indigenous peoples’ strides to rematriation in California, the Summer of Resistance emerging out of Atlanta, Black woman-led survivor care collectives from Sudan to Alabama, and beating back corporate gentrification through community-owned cooperatives across the United States. Read to the end for jobs and events, both virtual and irl.

Decolonizing and Repairing Native Lifeways: Environmental laws commodify land and water use but this colonial legacy is being confronted by Indigenous communities across California. In Southern California, the Nüümü people are fighting the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to return water stolen by the LA Aqueduct. Their water rights have been denied through “beneficial use” laws stretching back to 1850 that deem their ditch system obsolete. Going north to Mendocino, Manzanita Cooperative obtained acorn harvesting rights on privately-owned lands. Their model will close the loop  in the food system and protect forests from erosion by stewarding native oak tree population growth in the area. The legacy of colonization, genocide, and patriarchy in the legal system create obstacles for rematriation– but it’s not impossible. Check out Movement Generation to learn more about Indigenous ecological justice rooted in California. 

#SummerofResistance: Despite police raids and RICO indictments against organizers, a coalition of Black abolitionists in Atlanta are launching Summer of Resistance to re-activate community opposition to Cop City. The ‘Summer of Resistance’ is a call to action for Atlanta and beyond. Cop Cities already exist around the country and have been proposed in all except three U.S. states. Everyone from environmentalists to artists to mutual aid organizers are invited to submit events beating back policing and militarism to Strike Black and Save Weelaunee to be part of the ‘Summer of Resistance’ campaign. 

Black Women-led Community Protection Around the World: Black, queer, and femme individuals face distinct violence under genocide and mass incarceration. Black women from the U.S. South to Sudan are leading efforts to provide family care services that mitigate intergenerational impacts. Women Protection Teams in North Darfur offer health care and legal aid, while groups like Faith & Works in Alabama support justice-impacted women through #FreeBlackMamas bail funds. These efforts face militarized and legislative attacks, yet remain the most effective responsive to survivors. Support Black women-led initiatives by donating to local fundraisers in Sudan and supporting NEC members like Sol Underground and Endstate ATL.

Gentrification versus Community-owned Cooperatives: From Lake Michigan to West Oakland, community-owned cooperative real estate projects are pushing back predatory developers by resourcing community investors. In 2015, a federal shift in real estate investment rules allowed “nonaccredited investors” to contribute a maximum of $10,000 to a development. This empowers community-owned cooperatives, like Commongrounds and East Bay Permanent Real Estate, to democratically organize tenants and small business owners into housing and business developers. These journeys are part of a “robust movement for community control,” a strategy developed in partnership with NEC member Sustainable Economies Law Center. Explore their resources on land stewardship for a deep dive into decommodifying housing. 

 

“The Elements of Mutual Aid,” is a four-part, independently produced docuseries looking under the hood and into the operations of mutual aid efforts across North America. Struggling to build in a collapsing system, hear the perspectives of over a dozen groups who explore the origins, structures, healing ways, and logistics of collective organizing. Check out their website to see how you can help usher this resource into the world regardless of economic status.

• A Major New Step Toward Public Banking in Rochester
• California’s first Black land trust fights climate change, makes the outdoors more inclusive
• Community solar development in western Maine gets $2.9 million boost
• Climate Jobs Are Ramping Up, But a ‘Just Transition’ Is Necessary to Ensure Equity, Experts Say
• Louisiana Banned Abortion Pills. It Also Faces A Maternal Mortality Crisis. 
• New program aims to help rural Coloradans pay less on monthly energy bills
• Priced Out of Housing, Communities Take Development Into Their Own Hands
• To shift wealth, we need to change how we talk about money
• U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives turns 20
• Worker Co-Ops Have a Role to Play in Socialist Strategy

PODCASTS & VIDEO

• BIPOC Efforts To Fill In Food Deserts | YR Media
• Youth Agricultural Cooperatives in the Palestinian Central HIghlands (West Banks) | Institute for Palestine Studies
• Stacey Sutton Ph.D. discusses her Solidarity Economy Research and Chicago’s Community Wealth Building Initiatives | Everything Coop
• Free the land | Movement Generation
• Ai Weiwei: How Do We Save Our Humanity? | Laura Flanders

TOOLS & CURRICULUM

• A Shareable explainer: What is the Solidarity Economy?
• Weavings: Union, Worker-Owned Cooperatives (NEW FROM NEC)

Communications Campaigner, Oil Change International
Cooperative Business Consultant, ICA Group
Direction of Operations, Candide Group
Education Director, Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive
Head of Finance and Administration, Project Equity
New Economy Program Coordinator, Appalachian Voices
Sr. Director of Member Organizing, Justice Funders (deadline May 31)
Senior Strategist, Oil Change International

If you’re is hiring, consider submitting to The Roundup.

For more opportunities, check out this job board from NEC member the Post Growth Institute!

2024 California Cooperative Conference
The 2024 California Cooperative Conference will convene in San Diego on May 31 and June 1.

Mark your calendars and join us – registration is now available! Together we’ll discover the cooperative difference, share the latest developments in cooperatives, gain insights to strengthen your cooperative, and network with other cooperators. (May 31 – San Diego, CA)

How We Build Sustainable Co-op Futures
How We Build Sustainable Co-op Futures, is a panel that will feature incredible worker-owners who currently also sit on our board of directors, and have deep insights on what sustainability means for them in their different cooperative sectors. We are excited to be having this conversation as we build new ways to further support cooperatives in their growth. (June 3 – Virtual)

Two Decades of Funding Trans Artists: A Conversation with Denise Brown, Gabriel Foster, and V Varun Chaudry
Join this conversation with Denise Brown, Gabriel Foster and V Varun Chaudhry on funding transgender artists. In 2005, the Leeway Foundation expanded its grant funding to artists who identified as trans. After almost twenty years, we look back at Leeway’s decisions, strategy, processes, and impact on philanthropy and nonprofits. The three speakers will also discuss how this work evolved over the years, what is still needed, and what’s next. (June 4 – Virtual)

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) 

Los movimientos de economía solidaria son fuerzas empoderadas por la gente para proteger lo que más importa. Estos se basan en herramientas y tradiciones de muchos linajes, haciéndolos accesibles a cualquier comunidad, en cualquier lugar. Únase a nosotres para explorar que es un movimiento de economía solidaria, como funciona y las maneras en que podemos mantenernos orientados al desarrollo de movimiento aun cuando navegamos en contra de las marejadas del capitalismo y la opresión. (5 Junio – Virtual)

Tax Resistance Teach-In: War Tax Resistance and Tax the Rich
The current genocide in Palestine has many of us contemplating the ways our tax dollars fund the military, war, and other state violence; as well as what they do not fund nearly enough: schools, libraries, infrastructure, parks, rec centers, healthcare, etc.. In this Tax Resistance Teach-In, we’ll talk to Lincoln Rice, from The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, to learn about the decades long fight against our money funding wars and the military; as well as how people are currently resisting. We’ll also hear from Jeremy Keim-Shenk, from Tax the Rich PHL, on the campaign to fund our social programs (rather than war) by holding the wealthy accountable to coughing up the taxes which they so love to dodge. This event will be hybrid. Lincoln will be zooming in and Jeremy will be with us in person.You can also zoom in or join us in-person at Making Worlds to learn in community. (June 6 – Hybrid – Philadelphia, PA)

Teach Truth Day of Action
Join E4E, @zinneducationproject and 50+ other co-sponsors for the #TeachTruth Day of Action to defend the freedom to learn. In this election year, we need to reach as many people as possible with information about the chilling effect of the anti-history education laws and how they threaten an informed and engaged democracy. (June 8 – Virtual)

Liberation For All of Us: Queer and Trans Liberation as Collective Liberation
Attacks on trans and queer communities are on the rise; come learn why—and how all of our liberation is at stake. This training will unpack the ways that political violence against trans and queer people is foundational to a Christian nationalist right wing strategy that attacks ALL oppressed communities and makes us all less safe. We will look at how anti-trans oppression is inextricable from other systems of oppression, and how fighting back is crucial to all of our movements. Learn how to integrate a critical queer and trans lens into your work; shine a light on some of the often-hidden forces that attack, obstruct, and co-opt our liberation; and better understand the political landscape that impacts all of our lives. (Wednesday, June 26 & Sunday, June 30 – Virtual)

Summer School: Global Capitalism, Past Present, Future
The Progressive International Summer School is designed to answer your questions about capitalism. Over the course of eight weeks, you will hear from some of the world’s leading scholars on the past, present, and future of global capitalism like N’Dongo Samba Sylla, Sylvia Federici, Max Ajl, Jodi Dean and more. (June 29 – August 15 – Online)

Power of the Membership: How to Engage Your Members for Endorsements
You’ve built a strong member base to drive progressive change, so what’s next? Join Mo Manklang of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives to learn how to meaningfully engage members in political candidate and platform endorsements during this election season. Shifting away from a purely transactional model to a collaborative one, Mo will show us how to center members in the candidate endorsement process and strengthen relationships along the way. Learn how to forge stronger relationships with your base while amplifying your organization’s political impact. Don’t miss out on this invaluable opportunity to elevate your member engagement strategies – secure your spot now! (July 17 – 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.)

Facilitating Cooperation: Embracing Complexity and Navigating Uncertainty with Collective Power
What does it take to facilitate a meeting and be able to address the complexity and the unexpected while moving your work forward effectively? How do you set up a flow for your team to listen and adapt as a facilitator? Come to this free webinar to learn cooperative practices* to listen in your facilitation, engage your team members and self, and align the collective. (September 15 – Virtual)