Racial Justice – U.S. Solidarity Economy Network

18AprApril 18, 2018

Drink Your Coffee Black-Owned

Building Alternatives at Atlanta's Café ULU by Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo via Grassroots Economic Organizing Ormond Ashby bounces into the unheated, under-construction home of Café ULU on a chilly January day with a bayonet saw and an air of enthusiasm. The 76-year-old retiree is here to help to build a stage for the new worker-owned café. “Economics is the only way to have an impact in this world today,” says Ashby, a grandfather of seven and great-grandfather of one. Through his many lives as an...

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14MarMarch 14, 2018

Cooperative Banking for Black Lives

After facing decades of disinvestment and targeting by powerful financial institutions, African-American-owned credit unions could offer a way to build economic power and grow black wealth. via In These Times BY VALERIE VANDE PANNE MINNEAPOLIS—On an unseasonably warm Friday in late January, African-American business owners, activists, advocates, musicians, politicians and artists toasted with a “come-up” cocktail: a healthy mix of Goldschläger, vodka and sparkling cider over ice. A “come-up” signifies making it to the next level—and assembled community members used the moment to reflect...

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07MarMarch 7, 2018

A Digital Map Leads to Reparations for Black and Indigenous Farmers

The map’s creators envision equitable distribution of land and resources through “people-to-people” reparations. by Jean Willoughby via Yes magazine Last month, Dallas Robinson received an email from someone she didn’t know, asking if she would be open to receiving a large sum of money—with no strings attached. For once, it wasn’t spam. She hit reply. Robinson is a beginning farmer with experience in organic agriculture, and has had plans to establish the Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm on 10 acres of family land near her home...

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05MarMarch 5, 2018

Alicia Garza Launches New Organization to Harness Black Political Power

“Black folks drive the progressive political power in this country, but rarely benefit from the fruits of our labor. We are launching the Black Futures Lab as a way to mobilize around our needs, hopes and dreams.” by Kenrya Rankin via Colorlines As the nation remembers the death that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, one of the organization’s founders kickstarts the next fight for Black power. Today (February 26), Alicia Garza launches the Black Futures Lab, which seeks to engage advocacy organizations and legislators to advance local-, state- and...

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25JanJanuary 25, 2018

How Black Businesses Helped Save the Civil Rights Movement

via Institute for New Economic Thinking by Louis Ferleger and Matthew Lavallee Behind towering figures like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. were the taxi dispatchers, pharmacists, grocers, and other small business owners who were instrumental in making civil rights a reality. News that Montgomery police had arrested Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus spread quickly. Within twenty-four hours, leaders of the city’s black community called a meeting to propose a bus...

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