Priorities …from Theory (RBG) to Practice (RBH)

7 min readJun 8, 2023

I attended the National Conference on the Black Cooperative Agenda (organized by the Network for Developing Conscious Communities) last weekend and came away with many thoughts and ideas. I haven’t posted in the longest, but the sessions and conversations inspired some clarity of vision that I want to share and archive.

Caption: picture of fish swimming in streams that turn into two hands clinched in unity.

To begin, it’s always all love in spaces where Blackness is centered and liberation is everyone’s work purpose. Speakers and attendees alike provided a great deal of organizational and cooperative knowledge, on all forms of cooperatives, including step-by-step instructions to start a credit union from an expert that spent decades working for NCUA.

I’ve been among organizers in spaces like this for many years, but I still gained new knowledge and insight. But I also recognized some familiar themes in discussions around ideological differences in the movement, trust issues, and how to find common ground to build new systems we need to sustain community self-determination.

On Priorities

Some of those discussions reminded me of something I came to understand when I finally sat down to write my book, 360° A Blueprint to Black Self-Determination. Put in question form: why is it so hard for US to unite around a common cause (Black liberation)? My chosen path for Black liberation includes both community and personal self-determination. I believe most of us would choose the same path. The majority of Black folks in the U.S. and around the world for that matter, know WE deserve justice and that systems like white supremacy and racial capitalism are obstacles to our liberation and self-determination.

We also know survival takes priority and makes it difficult to keep our eyes on the prize, but it’s not the only reason unity remains elusive. Many “priorities” make building collectively and cooperatively toward Black liberation more of a micro solution than a macro one. We all have our own set of priorities, that are grounded in our lived experiences, and in space, place and time. Last weekend, a number of my priorities collided, many of which related to actualizing my 360° blueprint to Black liberation.

Given the tenets above, building Black cooperatives is a major priority for me (which aligns with 1–5 above). I’m a member/supporter of a few coops, being most actively involved (as an e-board member) with CEEM, a Black cooperative in Southern California. I also founded and operate UTN, a nonprofit organization that’s rooted in cultural work and community reciprocity; supporting students, community organizers, and artists. Finally, my husband and I have a company called JOLO Investments, which is focused on cooperative home ownership models to keep Black neighborhoods Black, and free from gentrifier investors and the speculative real estate market.

Given my priorities to building Black cooperatives, attending the conference in Las Vegas became a high priority. But I was wrapping a semester and had multiple appointments scheduled with students on conference days. Luckily, I could schedule around sessions and still prioritize my students as well (tenet 6). There were other concurrent events I would have liked to attend that also aligned with 360 tenets, but I (we) can only be in one place at a time and be fully present. So I missed a phenomenal Hip Hop Ed conference in NY (tenet 6), missed my district’s annual Black commencement ceremony I usually attend (tenets 1 and 6), and missed the CA cooperative conference (tenets 2–4).

We all make similar decisions on what must take priority every day. We all have multiple priorities, some overlap, some don’t. So it probably will remain elusive, even impossible to all be on the same (priority) page at the same time. Given the reality (tenet 2) that we all can’t prioritize the same thing at the same time to build macro level sustainable power, what’s the solution? I’ll share some ideas I have inspired by last weekend’s conference.

1. Find your tribe. Get in where you fit in. Build your 360.

Caption: graph of concentric circles for 360° self-determination model

2. Identify/Build your Haudenosaunee coalition (also known as Iroquois League or Five Nations). The chart below may help.

If like me, you want your coalition to include Black cooperatives, check out the National Association of Black Cooperators.

Caption: QR Code for link to join the National Association of Black Cooperators.

3. RELATE TO THE PEOPLE

Let the People decide who they relate to, and which Black organizations and “leaders” they trust. Follow the guidelines of Bunchy Carter and the model of Dr. King regarding how to deal with ideological and organizational differences we have, within and between Black organizations, and our communities more broadly. Read more here.

4. SHARE…your priorities, vision, knowledge, resources.

Just share if inclined, with no expectation for others to incorporate any of it into their lives; just share to give them the option to if they choose; self-determination in practice.

My family, friends, and even my husband of almost 30 years don’t share all the same interests and priorities I have…and that’s okay. Again, self-determination is to define and decide for ourselves.

5. Live. Learn. Grow. Move. Progress…and RBH — Resist, Build and Heal

…and first and foremost, heal. To really live, learn, grow, move, progress, resist and build, we have to be strong and healed people. We must center our mental and emotional health. That’s not easy for many given survival is always THE priority, but glad to see more and more of US focusing on healing from historical as well as interpersonal traumas. That work is necessary before we can build new systems. Just remember that all systems are socially constructed, so a new world that is equitable and just for all is possible.

Caption: Picture of Arundhati Roy with quotation.

Before I wrap, in the spirit of 360, I want to bring it back to the National Conference on Black Cooperative Agenda I started with in this post. Many powerful moments, words and ideas were shared, but one sentence in particular stood out to me.

You (we) move at the speed of trust — Kathi Thomas Gibson

Our movement for Black liberation will move at the speed of trust. So, if it’s not moving at the speed we want and I’d argue need, there’s foundational (and ongoing) work we all still have to do; to be both trustworthy and trusting. It is the only way to move unity from a lofty theory (I call RBG— Red, Black, Green — Nation Time — Community — US), to a lived reality.

Caption: Picture of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and a woman at a community meeting.

Caption: Cover of Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s book, Collective Courage; known as most comprehensive research on Black cooperatives.

Please read all the pics (including below) and hit those hyperlinks (throughout) for more. And if you’re interested in more of the resources and information from last weekend’s conference, or would like to join my 360 listserv for all things #360BlackPower, reach out to me via email at Tina@utn360.org.