SGEP just completed its fourth CoopEcon – a training institute for cooperative members. The following dedication was written for this year’s gathering by Ed Whitfield.
About the Southern Grassroots Economies Project
The Southern Grassroots Economies Project is building networks across the US South to promote and launch sustainable cooperative economies.
Values & Principles of Cooperation
Learn more about the values and principles we hold and look toward as we develop new economic structures in the US South.
Florida CoopEcon 2015
CoopEcon Florida is an opportunity for social justice community leaders and those interested in growing cooperative businesses and economies in Florida to gather, learn more about cooperatives and network with people wanting worker justice and a new economy across the state.
News from the New Southern Economy
Job Announcement: Rural Electric Cooperatives – Democracy Campaign Organizer
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/LAF (FSC) seeks a qualified individual as lead organizer for a campaign to bring member democracy to rural electric cooperatives in the South, beginning in Alabama and Mississippi, and starting with the Black Warrior Electric Membership
Cooperation NC Gathering – May 22-23
The North Carolina Cooperators Gathering is an opportunity for social justice activists and those interested in growing cooperative businesses and economies in North Carolina to gather, learn more about cooperatives and network with like-minded people across the state.
After Years Without a Grocery Store, Greensboro Neighbors Are Building One Themselves—And They’ll Own It
Fed up with waiting and, essentially, begging for access to affordable, quality food, residents in this predominantly African-American and low-income community decided to open their own grocery store.
With an Economy that Worked for All, Mike Brown Would Still Be Alive
We dedicate CoopEcon this year to Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and the many other victims of police and other racist violence; We honor the heroic people of Ferguson, Missouri and the countless ordinary people in communities across the country who know a change must come and are willing to participate in creating that change.
We dedicate CoopEcon to the people of Appalachia who see the tops blown off their mountains and their streams poisoned. They watch as their children get cancer at high rates. Their beautiful homeland is sacrificed to the greed of the coal companies then abandoned when there is little profit left to extract. We honor those who organize and resist this devastation.
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My TweetsWhy SGEP & CoopEcon are Important
The Southern Grassroots Economies Project is one of the few places in America where a truly community-based new economy movement lives. In the U.S., right now, the South is where people are developing the solutions we need to save our communities. Supporting SGEP and the CoopEcon institute is the way to build a just, community-based economy for everyone.
CoopEcon is an intensive weekend-long networking and training opportunity for southerners who are ready to build cooperative economic enterprises. This work will grow new economies based on democratic ownership and democratic governance in previously marginalized communities across the South.