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In this week’s roundup we’re talking about healthcare: what’s at stake and some possible solutions. We’ve also included two case studies — from Detroit and Boston — of communities stepping up and redefining the urban food economy. Plus: We’re co-hosting a gathering – "We Are The Warmth” – next month in New York City!
P.S. NEC is on Instagram! Follow us @NewEconomyCoalition.
Stories From the Field
Everyone is talking about: Healthcare– and what will happen to the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) in a Trump presidency. Congress has already taken steps to repeal the ACA and while the policy has its flaws, many are left wondering what will take its place.
This piece from The Next System Project highlights ways states, cities, and regions have stepped up to bridge coverage gaps. From Hawaii, to Massachusetts, San Francisco, and the Twin cities — it makes the case for universal health care on a local scale. Read more.
Agrihoods in Detroit: Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) revealed its plans for the first Sustainable Urban Agrihood in Detroit’s North End. Agrihoods position agriculture as the centerpiece of a mixed-use development. This is the first agrihood in an urban center. Read about the project.
Growing Local: An integrated network of enterprises is creating a new food economy in Boston. From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land– locals are creating a closed-loop food system. Read about how they’re doing it.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Sweet Democracy: A honey cooperative in Afghanistan– where co-ops were banned until just 15 years ago– offers women an opportunity for equal employment. Since the ban was lifted, approximately 3,000 co-ops have developed in the country. Watch a video on the honey co-op here.
Co-ops at WEF: The World Economic Forum meets in Davos, Switzerland this week and while co-ops will not be represented this year, Diego Isabel La Moneda (co-founder of the Global Hub for the Common Good) called on WEF executive chair Klaus Schwab to take co-ops and the social and solidarity economy into account: “The time has come to rethink money, banking and finance. The time has come to reshape organizations for the common good. The time has come to redistribute power and explore new governance models -more decentralized, more democratic.” Read more.
“All mankind is tied together; all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny…For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be – this is the interrelated structure of reality.”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his commencement address “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” at Oberlin College
Inauguration Resources
#DisruptJ20 is a resistance effort in D.C. taking place on Inauguration Day. You can plug into various events like the Anti-Capitalist & Anti-Fascist Convergence. Follow the hashtag and @DisruptJ20 for day-of news.
Endorsed by Women’s March on January 21 is #J21 Democracy Teach-In, #WeRise.
A plan to be #ungovernable in 2017 sets out ways to both build and fight: Build though community owned food and energy networks, common spaces, and People’s Assemblies. Fight through sanctuary cities, communication networks, and civil actions. Check out the website for a map of nationwide inauguration protests.
Over January 20 and 21, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ), Climate Justice Alliance (CJA- Our Power Campaign), Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), and Right To The City Alliance (RTTC) are teaming up for the It Takes Roots to Grow the Resistance Delegation to build a grassroots base for beyond election day. Read more about how to get involved.
Don’t want to march? Check out the livestream of Verso Books, Haymarket Books & Jacobin Magazine’s Anti-Inauguration with speakers Naomi Klein, Jeremy Scahill, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Anand Gopal and Owen Jones talking about why Trump won, what he'll do, and how we can fight him.
Student Divestment Network and 350.org team up on January 23rd for #ResistRejectDenial – a nationwide day of action to resist and reject Trump’s climate denial.
Welcome to NEC's Newest Member!
A warm welcome to The Icarus Project!
The Icarus Project is a support network and education project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness. The Icarus Project advances social justice by fostering mutual aid practices that reconnect healing and collective liberation. We transform ourselves through transforming the world around us.
Movement News
Shift the Culture:
- Economics of the Greater the Good
- James Baldwin on the Creative Process & the Artist’s Responsibility to Society
- What Happened When I Stopped Spending Money for a Whole Year
- What is Comedy’s Role Under Trump
More Reads:
- Amazon is Creating 100,000 U.S. Jobs, But at What Cost?
- Co-op Leaders Must Speak out to Protect Members’ Health Care
- World's eight richest people have same wealth as poorest 50%
- De Blasio Admin. Opens Door to Community Land Trusts
- The UBI Already Exists for the 1%
- Ten Ways to Fight Hate: Community Response Guide
- New Zealand to Kick Off Global Movement
- New Index of Economic Marginalisation Helps Explain Trump, Brexit and Alt.right
Upcoming Events
The People's State of the Union is an annual civic ritual and participatory art project rooted in the truth that democracy is a conversation, not a monologue. Any individual or organization can sign up to host a Story Circle event, bringing people together to share first-person stories reflecting on the state of our union, deepening relationships, finding strategic paths forward, and inspiring the Poetic Address to the Nation. (National, January 27- February 5, 2017)
People’s Climate Movement is seizing the first 100 days of the Trump Administration as our own and putting all of our energy toward stopping Trump and Congress’ attacks on our climate, our communities, and our jobs.During the first 100 hours, the People’s Climate Movement is calling for hundreds of actions around the country and just before the 100th day of his administration, on Saturday, April 29th, we will come together for one massive march. Join us. We’re counting on you. (National, January 3- April 29)
Social Permaculture for Food Justice
This online course prepares students with methodologies from the fields of permaculture design and social justice to enact change in the food system. Students learn tools to help them critique food system inequities, articulate goals for social change, and analyze their own power, privilege, and competencies as makers of change. (Online, January 3- May 17, 2017)
The USA Cooperative Youth Council is hosting a national gathering in Hampton, GA. It's a space for people ages 17-30 and allies to connect, & build skills in organizing and coop development. (Hampton, GA, January 27-29, 2017)
We Are the Warmth: A Night of Solidarity for a New Economy
NEC and the Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City are hosting a fundraiser and night of solidarity next month. It's going to be a high-energy gathering of new economy builders in New York. There will be a light dinner, drinks, music, storytelling, raffle prizes, and some fun activities. Click the flyer for RSVP. (New York, NY, February 23, 2017)
View all NEC member events on our website »
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