Cooperative Journal

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #9A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) is a hub for legal education, research, advice, and advocacy that supports the transition to localized, resilient economies. Their work focuses on practices that promote justice and sharing, including cooperatives, community currencies, community enterprises, local investing, cohousing, urban agriculture, and other innovative economic strategies.In this episode I speak with Mwende Hinojosa, the director of communications and strategic storytelling at the law center. We discuss the gap the co-founders were seeing that led them to step up to be a legal resource for the solidarity economy movement, what democratizing land, labor, and law looks like in practice, cooperative models as a pathway to ownership for undocumented immigrants, the revitalization of a former Black self-sufficient community, and how organizations can show up with care and intention for immigrants in their community.Show NotesSustainable Economies Law Center WebsiteCo-op Law Website: online legal resource library supporting democratic, worker-owned businessesSELC Legal Cafe: free trainings and 1:1 legal supportMutual Aid Toolkit: FAQs from mutual aid organizers answered by SELC lawyersState by State Guide to Apprenticeships: eight states’ rules for becoming a lawyer without attending law schoolBan Land Grabs One Pager: advocating to ban for-profit, non-cooperative business entities from buying residential property in Richmond and individual mega landlordsProspera Co-op: co-creates community wealth for Latina entrepreneursAllensworth Progressive Association: community-led nonprofit dedicated to the revitalization and self-determination of Allensworth, California

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #8A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Motherful is a matriarchal collective by and for single mothers rooted in non-hierarchy, mutual care, and shared resources. They are reimagining a future of motherhood where all single mothers are valued as sacred and worthy of support.In this episode I speak with co-founder Lisa Woodward and housing director Amanda King. Lisa grounds us in Motherful’s origin story and how they are meeting the needs of single moms through offerings like their pantry, resource garage, and basic income program. We discuss what it means to be a matriarchal and non-hierarchical collective and how they maintain those principles with an evolving membership of over 2,000. Amanda shares their newest initiative, an eco-village in Ohio for single mothers to shape their housing, community, and the conditions they need to thrive. This conversation offers a tangible vision for what is possible when we shift from care being an individual responsibility to a collective one.Show NotesMotherful WebsiteHeide Göttner-Abendroth: an advocate for matriarchal studiesMatriarchy Now: an alliance of organizations whose shared mission is to move society towards matriarchyUp Together: organization that co-funded the Ohio Mother’s Trust and is working to working to disrupt the status quo approach to ending poverty Rise Together Innovation Institute: organization that co-funded the Ohio Mother’s Trust and is working to to disrupt structural racism and issues of poverty in Franklin County

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #7A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Cooperate Western North Carolina weaves cooperative economics and ecological design to nurture a regional-scale mutual aid network to meet community’s basic needs with trust at the foundation. In this episode I speak with the founder Zev Friedman. We discuss the relationship between regeneration in natural and human cooperative ecosystems, how they are practicing regional mutual aid through models like bulk purchasing and savings pools, conflict as an opportunity transformation, finding the balance between relational trust building and practical work, and tools for shifting from individualism to a collective way of life.Show NotesCooperate WNCWNC Food Coalition: Regenerative food system coalition in Western North CarolinaAsheville Nuttery: Cooperatively run nut processing facility in Asheville, NCCommunity Purchasing Alliance: A network of local cooperatives that leverage the buying power of community institutions through bulk purchasing in Washington D.C.Silver Run Forest Farm: Co-founder Jonathan McRay teaches organizers about the process of conflict systemsTransformative Justice Collective: Community group based out of Oakland, CA working to build and support transformative justice responses to harm and violence

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #6A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Beloved Community Incubator is a solidarity economy movement organization, cooperative incubator, non-extractive lender, and worker self-directed non-profit. They focus on building a regional solidarity economy in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia that centers people, especially poor and working-class workers and people of color, over profit. In this episode I speak with co-director Bianca Vazquez and community researcher Askalu Habtom. We discuss how Beloved Community Incubator started as a hyperlocal initiative and evolved into regional solidarity economy organizing, the difference between traditional lending and non-extractive loans, challenges and effective tools in collective organizing, how participatory action research influences their work, and actionable steps for navigating times of uncertainty. Show NotesBeloved Community IncubatorSeed Commons: cooperative network for non-extractive financeDulce Hogar Cleaning Co-opSolidarity Research Center: builds solidarity economy ecosystems using data science, story-based strategy, and action research

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #5A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Creative Wildfire supports artists and grassroots organizations to create art that fuels our movements and imagines the world we need to thrive. This cultural organizing project is an embodiment of the strength of coalitions to resource the wider web. Three powerhouse organizations in the movement for a Just Transition and the Solidarity Economy pooled their budgets to redistribute to artists - Movement Generation, Climate Justice Alliance, and New Economy Coalition. In 2023-2024, Creative Wildfire convened a 10 month cohort that prioritized deeper relationship building, co-creation with a partner organization, and political education. 7 incredible artists and 7 organizations were selected to explore what's possible when we shift from transaction to collaborative liberation. In this episode Ebony speaks with Lizzie Suarez and Lily Xie, two of the most recent Creative Wildfire grantees. We talk about their roles as artist and cultural organizers, challenges that arise when collaborating with organizations, what can symbiosis look like when artists and orgs co-create, the value artists bring beyond being producers, and the cultural shifts needed to have a just transition in the arts.Show NotesNew Economy CoalitionCreative WildfireLily Xie WebsiteLizzie Suarez WebsiteLook Loud: visual strategy accomplices, supporting communities taking control of their own media narrativesBuilding Irresistible Movements: Best collaboration practices for organizations and visual artistsPedagogy of the Oppressed book by Paulo FreireCreative Study ‘Creatives Rebuild Guaranteed Income’: A free course about the three year guaranteed income initiative for artists in NYCCartoonist CooperativeEpisode Music by MADlines

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #4A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. The Black Solidarity Economy Fund (BSEF) was created by the New Economy Coalition to resource, convene, and uplift the work of the Black Solidarity Economy movement. The fund is managed by their member-led working group that has the autonomy to make decisions about who receives the grant and how much is awarded. Since 2020, they have redistributed $730,000 to Black solidarity economy groups across the nation. In this episode, Ebony speaks with former grantees and members of the working group, Erin Backus from the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative and Georie Bryant from Symbodied. They share about their  solidarity economy organizing in maternal healthcare and agriculture as well as the ancestral wisdom that informs their work. They talk about the collective regranting process and how it felt to shift from grantee to grantmaker. We also delve into the current barriers to weaving a Black solidarity economy network, the future they envision for a robust Black solidarity economy, and some practical ways to activate this vision.Before the interview begins, Shardé Nabors, the Resource Redistribution Director at New Economy Coalition, grounds us in defining the solidarity economy, what BSEF is, the intention for starting it, and their plans for growth and expansion. Show NotesBlack Solidarity Economy FundMaternal Health Equity Collaborative SymbodiedEpisode Music by MADlines

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #3A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Sol Underground is an abolitionist ecosystem in Atlanta dreaming of a Black and Indigenous liberated world that is resisting colonial systems of oppression. They are actualizing this dream as an autonomous community-led group that is building, joining, and maintaining networks of care. In this episode, Ebony speaks with the founder Sunny who begins with defining what abolitionism is and its correlation to the solidarity economy. How their shape transformed from an artist collective to supporting the unhoused community through mutual aid. They share some of the models they organize like Sol Below, a pop up tent that provides warmth and food to the homeless when the temperature drops below a certain degree. They paint a beautiful vision for a world when exploitative systems are abolished, offer practical tips for adopting an abolitionist mindset, and how to put theory into practice. Show NotesSol Underground Freedom Archives: dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of historical audio, video, and print materials documenting progressive movements and culture from the 1960s to the 1990s. Abolition Notes: a free and evolving, volunteer-run education project to make the work of radical and revolutionary movements throughout history fighting for liberation more accessible New Economy Coalition Episode Music by MADlines

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #2A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Co-op Dayton is developing and weaving a network between cooperative businesses that are meeting the needs of their local community. They are using community and worker ownership as a catalyst to transform Dayton’s Black and working class neighborhoods. In this episode, I speak with program and co-executive directors - Cherelle Gardner and Amaha Sellassie. They begin with defining what a cooperative is and different ownership structures, how cooperative businesses can meet the needs of a disinvested post-industrial city, some of the models they have incubated like T.R.I.B.E a shared-service co-op of holistic perinatal practitioners. They also invite us to think beyond the metrics of success within capitalism, what solidarity and cooperation looks like in our day to day lives, and how we can show up in solidarity.Show NotesCo-op Dayton National Black Food Justice AlliancePODER Emma: provides technical assistance, accompaniment, and lending for the development and sustainability of worker-owned businesses, resident-owned mobile home parks, and community-based real estate investment cooperatives.Seed Commons: ​​national network of locally-rooted, non-extractive loan funds that brings the power of big finance under community control.Economics for Emancipation: free course with interactive and participatory workshops that offers a deep dive into the current political economic system and explores alternative economic systems.New Economy CoalitionEpisode Music by MADlines

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #1 A collaboration with New Economy CoalitionSolidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. Nuns and Nones is a community of sisters and seekers connect to explore the themes of justice, spiritual practice, and how to respond to the needs of the times. The Land Justice Project evolved to support these religious communities to reimagine and shift who has ownership and access to the land they are on. In this episode Ebony speaks with Brittany Koteles, the director of the project. Brittany begins with laying a foundation for what land justice is and how the Land Justice Project embodies it through its models and practices. She shares when and why land became commodified, how the aging community of nuns is navigating the mistrust and contradictions that emerge when giving Catholic owned land to Native American and Black people, and ways you can engage in land justice. Show Notes:New Economy CoalitionNuns & Nones Sustainable Economies Law CenterAgrarian Commons: model of land stewardship and access that allows for community ownership of farmlandCenter for Ethical Land Transition: explores ways to decommodify, rematriate, and increase accessibility to land for BIPOC communitiesNew Economy CoalitionEpisode Music by MADlines

Guilded is a cooperative that offers resources to empower freelance workers. They provide contract management, invoicing, guaranteed payments, tax preparation, and health care – which alleviates some of the administrative work so that freelancers can focus on their projects. One of their main intentions is supporting artists as workers and ensuring their basic needs are met.In this episode, I speak with Camila Tapia-Guilliams, a mixed media artist, educator, and community organizer, weaving together narratives of identity, community care, cooperation, and solidarity in their art.We talk about the gaps Guilded is filling for freelancer artists like ensuring they get paid on time, unions as a tool for protecting artists as workers, navigating decisions in a multi-stakeholder co-op, the process of joining Guilded and the benefits included, and visions for a world where artists are honored for the value they create.Show Notes:Guilded Website Camila's InstagramU.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops