This week we’re talking about union co-op power, land back by any means necessary in Puerto Rico, scaling up the Solidarity Economy in Appalachia, the legacy of Nakba Day and more.

On another note, NEC has got our big 2023 Annual Member Meeting coming up this July 11-13. We’re seeking sponsorships to enable us to make this an equitable event through offering childcare, food stipends, and honoraria to our frontline members. Please click here to learn more about being a sponsor!

 

 

Building Worker Power: In May, we celebrate the historic successes of the labor movement and new waves of organizing to build worker power! Co-ops and unions have a long history of working in cooperation, and the solidarity economy movement needs both to build real people power. Get concrete tools to build greater unity between co-ops and unions, and check out these principles from NEC member Cooperation Jackson about how to make sure cooperative development is rooted in class struggle. For more, join the Union Co-op Symposium in October with NEC member Co-op Cincy.

Occupation as Resistance in Puerto Rico: “Only the people save the people.” This is the message from Puerto Ricans who are occupying land to create mutual aid centers, community farms, comedores after Hurricane Maria. Since 2017, groups across PR have rescued vacant lots — many held by US investors — and transformed them into spaces for community development and resiliency. Watch the full report to see how these Boricuas are taking back their land to resist extractive development and displacement, and fighting for a Puerto Rico free from imperialism.

Scaling up the Solidarity Economy in Appalachia: The Industrial Commons (TIC) in Morganton, NC is working to create an cooperative manufacturing ecosystem that prioritizes workers and builds community wealth for those most marginalized under capitalism. Inspired by Emilia Romagna and Mondragon, TIC incubates regional co-ops and regularly visits with fellow cooperative ecosystems like Poder Emma to provide opportunities for shared learning. Learn more about this solidarity economy ecosystem being built in Morgantown and across Appalachia.

 

Nakba Day: May 15th marked the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, a catastrophic process of ethnic cleansing that saw 750,000 Palestinian people evicted from their land by Zionist forces in order to create the state of Israel. 1948 did not mark the beginning or the end of the Nakba — nor of Palestinian resistance against colonialism and imperialism. Learn more about the enduring legacy and daily reality of the Nakba and how Palestinians are persisting in their struggle for freedom.

International Support for Solidarity Economy: Last month, the United Nations General Assembly ratified the first Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) resolution, years of organizing by RIPESS and global partners. The resolution promises financial and policy support for many global solidarity economy initiatives, from cooperatives to participatory budgeting. While many questions around implementation remain, we recognize this as a milestone in building international cooperation and scaling up the solidarity economy!

Timebanking around the World: A time bank is a network of members who exchange services to meet their needs. A core value of timebanking is that *everyone’s time is valued equally.* This work can open up services to people who have historically lacked access to things that feel like luxuries e.g. styling, nutrition, and hair care. TimeRepublik, a UK-based timebank, opened their timebanking services internationally. One special feature of their timebank is that job seekers can log their time spent searching for employment and get time credit that can be applied to anything.

 

 

We are thrilled to welcome 32 organizations as new members of the NEC network! This incredible cohort of new members are bringing important sectors, regions, and strategies that were underrepresented in the network. The NEC Team thanks you all for the important work you are moving to make another world possible.

Creative Wildfire– a collaboration between NEC, Movement Generation, and Climate Justice Alliance– is launching a national open call for artists to apply to the 2023-24 cohort! Artists, storytellers, and cultural workers will receive $2000-7800 to create powerful, strategic work with frontline climate & economic justice organizations. Applications are due Tuesday, May 30th and the cohort will take place June 2023-March 2024.

 

• ‘House of Tulip’ centers trans love, community, and culture
• ‘This land is our life’: Indigenous Shipibo-Konibo-Xetebo people defend forest from illegal destruction in Peru
• As Title 42 Ends, Asylum Seekers Face Inhumane Border Conditions, New Restrictions & Fast Deportation
• Brazil’s president returns 800 square miles of Indigenous Iand to its original caretakers
• Brandon Johnson Should Establish a Public Bank in Chicago
• Breaking up with private banks: Why public banks could solve the banking crisis
• Could employee ownership help narrow the racial wealth gap?
• Fighting fascism in feminism
• How Native Hawaiians have been pushed out of Hawai’i
• Jordan Neely was lynched
• Lessons from Barcelona’s 8-year experiment in radical governance
• Oregon nonprofit returns Wallowa land to Nez Perce Tribe
• Robin D.G. Kelley: Understanding police violence through racial capitalism
• The Future of the Labor-Climate Alliance
• The Wiyot Tribe Is Getting Its Land Back and Making California More Affordable
• These Groups Are Working To Bail Out Incarcerated Women in Time for Mother’s Day
• Why Banking for the Public Good Is No Pipe Dream
• Making State Enemies

 

PODCASTS

• Upstream Podcast: The Myth of Freedom Under Capitalism
• Sunny Drake: Cultural Organizing: Climate Change and other small talk pod
• Think 100%: New World Water w/ Kymone Freeman

TOOLKITS & RESOURCES

• Solidarity Resource: Anti-Racist Co-op Development Facilitation Guide

 

 

 

Follow us on Instagram — @neweconomycoalition — where in celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islander History & Futures Month, we’re bringing back some resources from the archives about the deep history of cooperation in AAPI communities. For more, check out this 5-part public discussion series.

 

 

NEW LISTINGS!

Assistant Director of Projects, OurSpace
Climate Advocates, FXB International Global Network
Communications Lead, The Communications Network
Green New Deal Workforce Needs Assessment Study Consultant RFP, City of Boston Worker Empowerment Cabinet
Program Manager, Grassroots Fund
Research Fellow, Solidarity Research Center
Resource Director of Federal Strategies, Race Forward
Senior Capacity Builder, We Make the Future

ALL JOBS

Bookkeeper, Obran Collective
Capital Campaign Manager, Build People Power
Digital Communications Manager, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Environmental Justice Organizer, The Clean Air Coalition
Finance and Operations Manager, Sins Invalid
Marketing & Communications Manager, Boston Impact Initiative
Operations Consultant, Intelligent Mischief
Program Associate, Cooperative Economics Alliance
Senior Researcher – Climate Program, Public Accountability Project
Various Positions, WEPOWER

 

 

 

Cultural Organizing for Community Change
Join fellow organizers, artists, media makers, and policy makers to learn effective ways to deepen your work and engage your creativity in organizing for community change. The day will include a cultural organizing framework, hands on skill building workshops, case studies from across NYC and beyond, and networking and resources. The virtual sessions will include Arts & Democracy, Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY (NOCD-NY), Lizzy Cooper Davis, Nick Slie, Participatory Budgeting Project, and more! (May 21 – Hybrid)

FLORIDA Anne Braden Program
Florida organizers are confronting racist attacks on education, Black political representation, trans and queer communities, immigrants, and more. The Anne Braden Anti-Racist Organizer Training Program will support white organizers in Florida to sharpen skills and align with movements for racial and economic justice. (Application Deadline May 22)

Sankofa Series: Spoken in Spirit with Randy Noka
NESAWG is bringing back the Sankofa Series! In 2023, our online Sankofa Series will be lifting voices of color, focusing on our history and roots, celebrating identities and cultures, and learning from movements of resilience and change. This is part of NESAWG’s Racial Equity Transformation work in the farm & food systems. This month we will learn about Aboriginal Sovereignty & European colonization in what is now known as the state of Rhode Island: Narragansett Aboriginal history; the impact of colonization on land, food, people, and education; and the necessary change for the survival of the next Seven Generations. (May 22 – Online)

Fixing the Food Gap: Antitrust Action and Grassroots Solutions to Check Dollar Stores and Rebuild Local Grocery Stores
The rise of predatory retail chains—including Walmart, Kroger, and Dollar General—has wreaked havoc on our communities. These giants leverage their power to bully farmers and muscle out independent grocers, which has undermined our food system, left many communities without access to fresh, healthy food, and harmed our local economies. Join for a live virtual event—featuring Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya alongside community leaders, independent grocers, and advocates—to examine the ways these dominant retailers exert their power, how community leaders are fighting back, and what federal leaders must do to cultivate fairness in our food system. (May 23 – Online)

Copaganda Clapback
Join us for this one hour event to discuss the creation of this project and how we are resourcing our communities to fight back against copaganda! (May 24 – Online)

Lithium Mining Behind the Curtain: Equity in an Extractive Energy Transition
Join us to discuss the impact of lithium mining and extraction on frontline communities and its implications for our work on equity and energy justice. The Local Clean Energy Alliance (LCEA)’s mission is to promote equitable, democratized, local and renewable energy resources to address climate change and create resilient communities. However, we must grapple with the tension between meeting energy needs of vulnerable and under-resourced communities, and limiting the extraction that underpins these energy technologies. When energy has this devastating cost, what and who we prioritize becomes the most important question. (May 24 – Online)

The Offers and Needs Market
The Offers and Needs Market is a two-hour guided process in which community members meet to identify and exchange their passions, knowledge, skills, resources, opportunities, and needs. Join us on May 24th with Crystal Arnold, Ebony Gustave, and Mike Strode as our hosts. This will be a great chance to connect and learn about all the wisdom & resources we have to share across the network — we especially encourage new NEC members to attend! Please note that registration will be capped at 30 participants. (May 24 – Online)

Liberation Culture: Applying Solidarity Economy Principles and Practices
We believe Fannie Lou Hamer: “Nobody is free until everybody is free.” Our commitment to building a Solidarity Economy is about the liberation of all from systems of domination. Join a gentle space to practice applying Solidarity Economy principles and practices that directly support a liberation culture. (June 5 – Online)

The Future of Care Work Conference
Taking Care of Care Workers is an in-person convening in New York City to lay the foundation for this network with care economy leaders, centering on the needs, voices, and experiences of workers who are providing care while facing steep barriers to accessing care themselves. (June 16-17 – In-person)

2023 Union Co-op Symposium
Co-op Cincy presents its 6th biennial Union Co-op Symposium, which will take place in-person on Oct 20 and Oct 21 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Symposium will focus on combining the best of the co-op and union movements to forge a new economy rooted in connection. Activities will highlight equity, labor, community wealth-building, and care for the earth and ourselves. (October 20-21 – In-person)