Convening, Recruiting, and Connecting People Who Repair Local Economies
I happened to be in a conversation this past week, and someone said this sentence: “He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.” It has stuck with me. It has made me wonder what the wrong side of the tracks refers to and what are the conditions on this “wrong side?” Is it […]
I will be the first to admit that my belief in a better world and systems that work for all people may be a little more hopeful than what is visible in our current condition. If I go down the rabbit hole of what is happening systematically, then my cynical self is called to the […]
Imagine a world where every Black entrepreneur doesn’t just survive—they thrive, shattering systemic barriers with unyielding resilience and innovation. Despite the unwavering spirit of Black entrepreneurs, the stark reality remains: 95% of Black-owned businesses are sole proprietorships, a figure reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019. This overwhelming majority stems from pronounced financial disparities, […]
This past week, my wife Donna and I were able to go back to Atlanta where we spent seventeen years of our lives. Our grandchild lives there, it’s where our oldest children were raised, and where our two oldest sons and daughter-in-law still live and work. Did I mention our grandchild lives there? Tuesday morning, I […]
Markets are not value neutral or virtuous. They play by rules designed by the people that benefit from them. “Letting the market distribute wealth as it will” is simply a recipe for letting the status quo continue. The markets will produce what the markets are designed to produce – namely consolidation of wealth into the hands of […]
Mixed Income Neighborhood Trusts, or MINTS, were a brand new concept three years ago, but Trust Neighborhoods has quickly grown from two buildings in one city to 170 residences in five cities. MINTS are a rare economic justice innovation that found the right inflection point in the system at just the right point to halt […]
It seems that sometimes the history of what the Church has done in times of struggle gets overlooked. We seem to get lost in personalities and political agendas that move us away from who we, the Church, are in society. The Church has a long history of stepping into spaces and representing well. I think […]
Note: Perhaps this isn’t 100% factual, but it IS a very true story. And I think it speaks to the work we are trying to do at Neighborhood Economics. Sharing this story feels risky because it is told from the vantage point of a single person (me!), and the way all the dots connect it […]
The influential Aspen Institute has decided that the goal of their Future of Wealth initiative is to see Black family wealth grow ten-fold over the next twenty-five years. This would bridge a significant chunk out of the racial wealth gap; the average white family has 10x the assets of the average Black family. Aspen’s grounding […]
Dignity is defined as being worthy of respect or honor. I often hear that everyone is deserving dignity at some level. It seems like a fairly understandable concept, but the practice of respecting people seems to be something that is pretty difficult to apply. It seems to be hardest to apply when it comes to […]