Stories and Updates

This morning, as I stepped outside my door, I found a dead sparrow lying still on the earth. I paused, caught off guard by the smallness of it, the surprise of it, the quietness of the moment. Elders have taught me that when we see something dead, it means its medicine or symbolic power has been fully incorporated.

For generations, Black communities have turned to cooperative economics as a means of survival, resistance, and self-determination. We take this moment to reflect on the history of cooperatives, and the impact that they hold in our present day.

On November 1st, 2024, Black Future Co-op Fund met in the executive conference room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Seattle for a full day retreat. In this piece, Tawfiq Abdulaziz shares his experience observing the fall retreat.

In this moment, we must remember that we stand on the shoulders of giants. We are the result of generations of activists, healers, artists, changemakers and table shakers. We are the beneficiaries of unceasing and uncompromising faith in a brighter tomorrow.

In 2023, we returned to the motherland. Over two trips to Ghana, Black leaders from across Washington had the opportunity to reconnect with their ancestral past and gather inspiration and wisdom to chart a radically free future.

As this season of gratitude unfolds, I’m reminded of the profound power of giving — not the transactional kind that perpetuates our current economy of commodification and extraction, but the sacred, relational kind that is inherent in the natural world.

Our team has had the opportunity to grow and learn alongside our philanthropic peers at some of the largest conferences in the sector. Check out our reflections from these amazing gatherings.

Revolutionary thought and action are never born from the centers of power. We must look to the margins, knowing that in centering their success and thriving, we ensure the same for us all.

As we celebrate this June, and move into year five of the Fund, we invite you on our journey, as it is our collective power that is our true wealth.

When Black women are seen, respected, and held as full humans with all the complexities and multiplicities therein, all peoples are afforded greater access to their truest selves.