Leroy Barber, Executive Director
I think my life may have been built around cooperative economic activity on just about every level. This way of life led to flourishing based on everyone having a voice and ownership. I don’t believe my mom would have been able to raise us alone without our community and a place where we received and gave to others fluently. In practice, cooperative economics gives ownership and voice to all of its members as they provide service and support to one another, the profits or benefits then shared by all owners.
I first picked this up in my Black church as I witnessed multiple chicken dinner sales that benefitted families, the caterer, and the church. Dinners would be sold at a reasonable price that families could afford, the volume made it feasible for the caterer to buy in bulk, some of us would be hired to serve. Friends and I made money during our high school years waiting tables, prepping and cleaning up after events. A percentage went to the church which benefited everyone. I was not alone. This chicken dinner economy was a way many Black churches built buildings, paid pastors, and funded activities, including benevolence in the community.
Secondly, my church started a credit union where members opened savings accounts and made deposits each week. This then allowed the credit union to make small loans to members as needed. My first loan of 500 dollars came from this credit union.
This economy was also present in my neighborhood, as the local corner store owner allowed families to have tabs for groceries and pay them on their payday. In neighborhoods where jobs were scarce or low-paying, this made access to food easier and made families more likely to get their groceries from the corner store instead of the larger stores because of the credit access.
I remember neighbors going in together to buy lawnmowers and expensive tools that they shared. Life and economics were closely aligned, and this created a greater quality of life.We were community, not individual existence.
There are aunties, uncles, and mamas all over who had very little resource and lack of access to banks and lenders that still built cooperatively. They built churches, launched and supported business, funded home repairs, music venues, little leagues and so much more. The shared benefit of watching children and places flourish was absolutely amazing. I remember special shopping districts like the 52nd street strip in Philly flourishing when I was a kid. The owners, consumers, and job markets were supported by the Black community where it sat.
Here is my thought. If economics could be established through cooperative practice in times of deep racism and poverty spread wide in certain communities, there may be something there worth exploring. Perhaps we should let go of some of our individualistic thought around money, giving, and finance. We could pursue more as an aggregate.
We are bringing together folks who are already doing this and who are figuring out how to help others do this in San Antonio, February 26-28. Join this movement.
Our content curator, Kevin Jones, tells me, in line with cooperative economics, we have several sessions on shared ownership; the growing movement of employees, not just the bosses, owning the business. That movement is having a moment now, and our conference is on top of it.
We also have sessions on community ownership of commercial real estate and innovative housing solutions that link giving with homeownership. That cooperative economy I grew up with is reemerging and will be on full display in San Antonio.