Amanda Huron will be in conversation with author Jonathan Tarleton this Friday, Feb. 28, at 7:00 PM, at Politics & Prose at the Wharf, about his new book, Homes for Living: the Fight for Social Housing and the New American Commons, which is all about limited-equity housing co-ops in NYC. Details here. From the P&P website:

In Homes for Living, urban planner and oral historian Jonathan Tarleton introduces readers to 2 social housing co-ops in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Longtime residents of St. James Towers and Southbridge Towers lock horns over whether to maintain the rules that have kept their homes affordable for decades or to cash out at great personal profit, thereby denying future generations the same opportunity to build thriving communities rooted in mutual care.

With a deft hand for mapping personal histories atop the greater housing crisis, Tarleton explores housing as a public good, movements for tenant rights and Indigenous sovereignty, and questions of race and class to lay bare competing visions of what ownership means, what homes are for, and what neighbors owe each other.

Jonathan Tarleton is a writer, an urban planner, and an oral historian. He previously served as the chief researcher on Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas and as the editor in chief of the online magazine Urban Omnibus. His essays have appeared in Orion, Jacobin, Hell Gate, Dirt, and beyond .

Amanda Huron‘s research interests are in D.C. history, urban geography, and housing justice. Her first book, Carving out the Commons: Tenant Organizing and Housing Cooperatives in Washington, D.C., is out now from the University of Minnesota Press. Among many other things, she has played music in punk and experimental bands since 1991. 

Interview with the author of After Capitalism: Prout’s Vision for a New World, Thursday, April 25, 7-9pm, at Artomatic, 2100 M St, NW, DC, https://www.artomatic.org/event/after-capitalism-an-interview/

“We will be talking to Dada Maheshvarananda, whose book explores a Deep Green movement that comes out of India, called Progressive Utilization Theory proposing a new socio-economic model based on decentralized economic, bio-regions and holistic values. His book contains interviews with Noam Chomski  and Howard Zinn.” The book is available here: https://prsinstitute.org/downloads/related/economics/prout/AfterCapitalism.pdf

Artomatic itself is an amazing self-organizing event that is free, open to everyone, and closes on Sunday, April 28. https://www.artomatic.org/

DC Community Wealth Building Day will take place this Saturday at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K St, NW). I highly recommend the event, since they will be discussing concrete plans for a cooperative ecosystem in DC. You can sign up here. Below is the schedule for the day.

Tune in to WOL 1450 AM, 95.9 FM and WOL Livestream on October 19, 10:30 am, ET, for Everything Co-op, hosted by Vernon Oakes. This week Vernon interviews Clarice Manning, member of the Community Engagement committee at Community Grocery Co-op (CGC). Vernon and Clarice will discuss the process of establishing a food co-op, and the role community engagement plays in the process.

Community Grocery Co-op’s purpose is to provide Washington, DC residents in Wards 7 and 8 access to healthy food and local products that are equitable, affordable and supportive of a healthy lifestyle. CGC is also passionate about providing entrepreneurial opportunities, skills training and employment to residents who desire those opportunities.

In CoopDC, I’ve added a Coop Histories page in the main menu. So, in the Coop Directory, wherever there is an *, you will find a history of that cooperative on Coop Histories Page. If you would like to write a history, let me know (johanna.bockman@gmail.com). We can link to histories you or others have already written, or you can add to these histories in the comments section of each. Very much looking forward to learning more and sharing these histories.

Finally, we are updating the CoopDC Directory and webpage a bit. Wherever there is an *, you will find a history of that cooperative. If you would like to write a history, let us know (johanna.bockman@gmail.com). Or add to these histories. Here are the ones we have so far:

*Community Based Buying Clubs Inc. (CBBC Inc.) (1980-1994, founder Senghor Jawara Baye)

*Shepherd Street Collective Buying Club

*Sure Savings Collective Buying Clubs (SSCBC) (1980-1994, founder Senghor Jawara Baye)

*Washington Cooperative Bookshop (registered July 7, 1938)

*Women’s Community Bakery Collective, 1976-1992 (Capitol Hill)

Join an open and dynamic group of other small businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, and neighbors, dedicated to building wealth and trust in local, Black and brown, and low-wealth DC communities. We believe in the wealth that exists between us, the connections and networks that bind a community together, and we are committed to leveraging these connections to build a more equitable and prosperous community for all its members. Read more here.

DC Community Wealth Building Day 2023

Saturday, October 21 · 9am – 3pm

Eaton DC 1201 K Street Northwest Washington, DC 20005

More info and registration here.

Dear Friend,

As a part of an education and fundraising initiative, Grassroots Economic Organizing Collective will have an on-demand showing of a French film about The Park Slope Food Cooperative in Brooklyn. The showing will be anytime between Nov. 13 -15, with a webinar discussion on Mon., Nov. 14 at 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT / 6 pm MT / 5pm PT. You can watch from the comfort of your home, or co-op, or other business organization in English, Spanish, French or Italian.

Park Slope Food Co-op is one of the oldest and most successful food cooperatives in the United States. It is unique because it brazenly and inexplicably breaks the co-op operating “rules” – most food cooperatives operate almost like a supermarket: you come and buy food. In some food co-ops, you pay a membership fee, which can be voluntary. At Park Slope, your membership fees are not voluntary; you cannot shop unless you work almost three hours every three months. This allows the co-op to cut one of its largest expenses – labor – by about 75%, and offer goods at a cheaper price. Its members love it!

Could this work in other places? Pros and cons?

We are inviting you to do several things: (1) Help us raise money by paying $5 to $50 to watch the film; or (2) co-sponsor the film, as a possible educational and marketing tool for your cooperative members; or (3) We also would love it if you joined us on a Zoom webinar on Nov. 14 to hear food activists, food co-op leaders and organizers and others talk about the film, the concept, and other lessons from the film. This is a fundraiser to help GEO carry out its mission to catalyze more cooperatives and other solidarity economy enterprises in this country which are needed more than ever. Your movie ticket purchased here admits you to the webinar as well. You may also check out a trailer at the Eventbrite link.

To co-sponsor, you could contribute $100 dollars and have your name on the marketing materials. You might even organize a watch party for your membership. We have included a study guide to help center the discussion around some important issues. If you would like to appear as a panelist for the discussion, please let us know.

Even if you would rather not sponsor or be a part of a panel discussion, we hope that you will help us to advertise the on-demand showing Nov. 13-15 to your membership, friends and comrades and cooperators about this inspiring and exciting way to organize. To RSVP, please fill out the form. Attached is a poster that you use to publicize the event on social media.

A little more about Park Slope. There in New York City, members of all races and socioeconomic classes flock to work the co-op’s mandatory hours. The 16,000 members feel fortunate to have this opportunity to buy healthy food at lower prices. The co-op is a welcome contrast to corner stores and small supermarkets which sell substandard produce or products at very expensive prices. Park Slope is one of the few co-ops that has been able to operate according to the Rochdale Cooperative Principles, and other people in New York City and Paris have replicated the model.

Yet Park Slope Food Co-op is not without its critics. Some have called its work requirement elitist. In addition, an attempt to unionize was unsuccessful. But as one member, an older veteran on a bike, in the film says:

“The coop…is an entire community, and it actually represents a new economic system in this country. It’s going to have to [catch on] because this country is going to collapse one day if this type of system doesn’t catch on.”

To purchase tickets, please do so at Eventbrite or here to sponsor or donate to GEO.

Thank you very much, and much love!

Sincerely,

Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo
for GEO Fundraising Circle

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D. and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, discuss the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award, and its first Recipient Ella Jo Baker. Tune in to WOL 1450 AM, 95.9 FM and WOL Live Stream September 29, 10:30 am EDT, for Everything Co-op, hosted by Vernon Oakes. This week we continue our recognition of the 2022 Cooperative Hall of Fame Inductees. Vernon’s sixth commemorative interview will be with Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Professor at John Jay College, and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, Co Editor at Grassroots Economic Organizing. Both are also economic social justice advocates. Vernon and his guests will discuss the Unsung Cooperative Hero Award, and its first recipient Ella Jo Baker.   To listen live online Click Here! or Click Here! to Listen on your cell phone with Tune-in Radio. Author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014) and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame, Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., is a Professor at John Jay College, City University of NY. She is a political economist specializing in cooperative economics, community economic development, racial wealth inequality, Black Political Economy. She is a member of the Cooperative Economics Council of NCBA/CLUSA; the ICA Committee on Co-operative Research; an affiliate scholar with the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan; and past board member of Association of Cooperative Educators.   Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo is passionate about cooperatives as a community economic development tool and lifestyle strategy. She has an MBA and a Masters in Community Economic Development, and also earned a degree in Mass Media Arts from the University of the District of Columbia. She is a co-founder of the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative, an affordable housing cooperative in Washington, DC, and was a founding board member of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Ajowa has a wide range of experiences on various boards, and is a long-time member of the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy. She also has a passion for working around internalized superiority/inferiority issues, and the role of love and spirituality in changing the world.   Our host, Vernon Oakes, is a consummate advocate for cooperatives. He is a Past President of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, and he’s served on several boards and committees to advance the interests of cooperatives. Recently, he served on the Limited Equity Cooperative Task Force, established by Anita Bonds, At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia. Vernon is an MBA graduate of Stanford University, who has used his business acumen to benefit the community, by promoting the added value of the cooperative business model.