The Ujamaa Hour S3E9 (Decolonizing Cooperative Education & Community Development) w/Gregory Jackson
Channel: Mike Tekh Strode
Date: 2020-10-12

MOVEMENT MONDAY: Tune in on Monday (8/10) at 7:30 pm CST as we interview Gregory Jackson, Project Lead of Repaired Nations and 2018 Equal Justice Works Legal Fellow with Sustainable Economies Law Center. Greg is an Oakland native with family history in the city spanning three generations who is deeply committed to achieving economic equity in the East Bay through collective ownership and democratic decision-making. This commitment to the equitable distribution of resources and decision-making authority led him to focus his law school research international cooperatives and develop a pilot initiative for youth-led cooperative development during his internship with Sustainable Economies Law Center.

Greg co-founded Repaired Nations which focuses on building wealth in Black communities by giving youth the tools needed to remain rooted in those communities including access to land and capital. Through book club study groups, workshops, and trainings, they educate and inspire communities to engage in cooperative endeavors while providing practice skills for collective ownership and repairing the harm created by colonization and oppression. Greg also serves as Board President of East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, a democratic, People of Color led cooperative that takes land and housing off the speculative market to create permanently affordable, community controlled land and housing.

On this episode, we explore how Greg originally became rooted in the principles of cooperation he shares with others; examine why a culturally rooted cooperative education is necessary for Black communities; and reflect on what cooperative educators must do to ensure that the next generation of cooperators has access to the tools they need to exercise, agency, autonomy, and self-determination.

On the recap, we discuss Coop 4 Lib’s foray into curriculum design; share an upcoming event which explores the use of cooperatives to support parents and children; and consider the relationship between social practice, community organizing, and political education. Tune in.

*Initially broadcast August 10, 2020 via Facebook Live to Kola Nut Collaborative at 7:30 pm