Create!
Along with direct action and other forms of resistance, a transformational movement must also have a constructive program that builds new institutions based on the values that the movement aspires to achieve. These may eventually replace the old systems. From small, worker-owned cooperatives to national advocacy groups, hundreds of thousands of people around the country are working to create democratic and sustainable systems that meet the basic needs of all people.
Early in the last decade a set of communities along the Cataniapo River started to organize themselves to protect the river’s ecosystem and bolster their agricultural and handicraft production. A few years later, in response to Chávez’s call to build socialist communes, 15 community councils in the area came together to form the Rio Cataniapo Commune.
Today, approximately 1500 people participate in the Río Cataniapo Comune. They come from various ethnic backgrounds, but the majority identify as Indigenous and some still practice common ownership of land.
Resilience And Regeneration, Disaster After Disaster
October 22, 2024
Oscar Perry Abello, Next City.
Create!
climate crisis, Disaster Recovery, Extreme weather, Hurricanes, Resilience
Long before the winds and the rain and the flooding, there was already so much healing work that needed doing, and some of it was already happening. That’s not really in question. Like the fungi beneath our feet, the work of regenerating, reconstituting and rebuilding never really stops, even in the aftermath of a hurricane or other disaster.
But with every tragic deluge, the open wounds of carnage and destruction also open up new lines of sight for others to see who has been doing that work in their community — and then to either join them or bulldoze right over them.
Archiving Ancestral Knowledge To Co-Create New Economic Paradigms
October 20, 2024
Alison R. Guzman, Resilience.
Create!
Archiving, De-colonization, Education, Indigenous Knowledge, Knowledge
When we think of archiving, the mind might jump to dusty boxes of files, endless rows of cabinets, or shelves weighed down by old papers and books — organized in a way that seems to go on forever. Maybe we even picture the digital world, with its infinite files tucked away in the cloud. Either way, archiving often feels like a dull, lifeless task — far from inspiring or exciting.
But here’s the twist: this is exactly the key to it all — the secret behind every colonizing scheme — the meticulous control and management of data, including intellectual property. Reclaming archiving is not just about organizing the past but unlocking potential for new knowledge and endless possibilities beyond colonial modalities of control.
NDN Fund’s Loan Leads To #LANDBACK In Alaska
Rapid City, SD – NDN Fund, the impact investing arm of NDN Collective, today announced the closing of a loan with Qizhjeh Vena – an Alaska Native Women-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working in the Bristol Bay area.
The $750,000 loan from NDN Fund will allow Qizhjeh Vena to purchase Koksetna Wilderness Lodge and surrounding land on Lake Clark, located at the outlet of the Chulitna River in Chulitna Bay. The lodge will serve as a cultural preservation and revitalization center, and act as the gateway to a sanctuary for wildlife, and interrelated habitats. This historically important land and retreat center is located 120 air miles southwest of Anchorage, within the Lake Clark National Park that protects the headwaters of the Bristol Bay home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.
From Despair To Revolution: The Bronx’s Path To Defeating Addiction
October 19, 2024
Bronx Anti-War Coalition, Workers World.
Create!
Addiction, Health Care, New York City (NYC), Palestine
The Bronx Anti-War Coalition hosted a film screening on Oct. 11 of the documentary “Dope is Death” as part of our guerrilla cinema series. The widely attended event featured a Q&A session with former Young Lord and acupuncturist Walter Bosque, where community members engaged in a lively discussion about continuing and expanding the revolutionary movement of healing.
In recent years, the Bronx, a predominantly Black, Brown and working-class borough in one of the most densely populated areas of Turtle Island, has experienced a sharp rise in opioid use, including oxycodone, street fentanyl and heroin.
We recognize that drug use, particularly opioids, is not merely a personal struggle but a symptom of systemic issues rooted in capitalism and government neglect.
Former Prisoners Are Making Sure No One Leaves Prison Alone
October 18, 2024
Cinnamon Janzer, Next City.
Create!
Community, Criminal Justice and Prisons, New Jersey (NJ), Prisons, Returning Citizens
When Antonne Henshaw was released from a New Jersey prison in 2018, he walked out alone.
His sister had planned to pick him up, but she got the time wrong. She made it a few hours later and brought him to stay at her home — but just a few months later, she had to sell her home and move away for a new job, leaving Henshaw alone once again.
Henshaw had managed to save $13,000 during the 30 years he was in prison. It was a sizeable sum, considering the paltry pay for prison jobs, but he soon discovered it wouldn’t be enough to get him the apartment he now needed.
Degrowth: Beyond Education For Sustainable Development
October 15, 2024
Amerissa Giannouli, Resilience.
Create!
climate crisis, Education, Environment, Sustainability
Large-scale development projects, innovative green technologies, artificial intelligence, and trips to Mars are often seen as central solutions to the climate crisis leading to diverse socio-ecological and economic implications. Despide their inconsistencies and conflicted outcomes, their influence is so strong that our present approaches and vision for the future seem constrained by them. This short essay aims to explore opportunities and entry points that could mobilise personal and collective transformations in how we think and act, with the goal of fostering a more ecological and socially just response to the climate crisis.
Nebula: A Community Centered Approach To Domestic Violence
October 14, 2024
Malikia Johnson, Grassroots Economic Organizing.
Create!
Community, domestic violence, Police, Tenant organizing
Nebula describes itself as a group that supports “survivors of battering, SA, IPV and DV with community & physical resources in crisis and in their empowerment”. They also “ assist neighbors and mutual aid groups learning how to build liberatory practices in their groups.” Two of the core members came together in the context of tenant organizing. They realized a connection between tenant organizing and domestic violence support. They noticed that often organizers involved in tenants’ rights ended up being involved in domestic violence support because homes are often the center of the violence.
New Approach To Prosecuting Low-Level Offenses ‘A Massive Success’
October 10, 2024
Kyle Dunphey, Utah News Dispatch.
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Addiction, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Homelessness, Legal System, Salt Lake City, Utah
It’s been one year since Salt Lake City launched a new court tailored toward individuals struggling with mental health, addiction or homelessness and so far, the data looks promising, with dozens of people who previously had hundreds of run-ins with police now steering clear of the criminal justice system.
The city’s new, aptly named “Familiar Faces” program works with people who have had multiple contacts with Salt Lake City Police officers in recent years, resulting in dozens, sometimes more than 100, low-level, nonviolent charges during their life.
That mostly includes class B and C misdemeanors like trespassing, illegal camping, theft or criminal mischief.
Barcelona Is Turning Subway Trains Into Power Stations
October 8, 2024
Natalie Donback, Next City.
Create!
Barcelona, Electrification, Energy, Trains, Transportation
Most of the passengers emerging from the station in Bellvitge, a working-class neighborhood outside Barcelona, have no idea just how innovative the city’s subway system is. Using technology not unlike the regenerative braking found in hybrids and electric vehicles, the trains they rode generated some of the power flowing to the EV chargers in the nearby parking lot, the lights illuminating the station, and the escalators taking them to the platforms.
Every time a train rumbles to a stop, the energy generated by all that friction is converted to electricity, which is fed through inverters and distributed throughout the subway system.
An Atlas For Urban Commons Of The World
Stefan Gruber, a Carnegie Mellon professor of architecture and urbanism, sees cities as a prime site of struggle between capitalism and commons, and at the same time more accessible than most national or international policy venues.
"The history of urbanization is intricately entangled with the history of industrialization and capitalism," said Gruber, citing thinkers like Henri Lefebvre, David Harvey, and Manuel Castells. "Cities provide access to a high concentration of labor and production, infrastructure, trade, finance, and consumption markets."
Yet even though cities have contributed to capitalist growth, Gruber noted, "they have also been the arenas where the contradictions of capitalism, such as inequities, the environment, and class struggle, have played out most visibly."
Illinois’ Elimination Of Cash Bail One Year Later
October 3, 2024
Lisel Petis, Portside.
Create!
Cash Bail, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Illinois, Mass Incarceration
A year ago, Illinois made headlines as the first state to eliminate cash bail. Like many, I feared such a sweeping change could compromise public safety. However, the anticipated chaos never materialized — crime rates have dropped. Now, fear should no longer prevent states from taking similar actions.
The Pretrial Fairness Act introduced a system that more accurately detains those with genuine risks while allowing low-risk individuals to await trial outside of jail. No cash is required. The goal was to create a system that better balances public safety, accountability and individual liberties.
The result? People can no longer buy their way out of pretrial detention.
Self-Charging E-Bikes Bring Mobility To Low-Income Communities
October 1, 2024
Maylin Tu, Next City.
Create!
Bike-Share, EBikes, Massachusetts, Poverty, Transportation
Buying an e-bike is expensive. Starting last year, a local startup is providing low-cost, self-charging e-bike libraries to low-income communities in eastern Massachusetts.
Funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center as part of a three-year pilot, the Cambridge-based company Metro Mobility provides income-qualified residents with an e-bike for as low as $1 per day.
Working directly with cities, housing authorities and non-profit housing providers, the company installs e-bike docks for residents who live in subsidized housing and low-income communities.
There are currently 85 docks in 10 communities across Boston, its Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods, and the nearby cities of Medford, Malden, Quincy and Lawrence.
Beyond Hegemony
September 29, 2024
Jeffrey Sachs, Scheer Post.
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International Law, Summit of the Future, Sustainability, United Nations
We are at a new phase of human history because of the confluence of three interrelated trends. First, and most pivotal, the Western-led world system, in which countries of the North Atlantic region dominate the world militarily, economically, and financially, has ended. Second, the global ecological crisis marked by human-induced climate change, the destruction of biodiversity, and the massive pollution of the environment, will lead to fundamental changes of the world economy and governance. Third, the rapid advance of technologies across several domains—artificial intelligence, computing, biotechnology, geoengineering—will profoundly disrupt the world economy and politics.
Where Fire Back Means Land Back
September 29, 2024
Ashli Blow, Resilience.
Create!
Forests, Indigenous Knowledge, Land Back, Restoration, Wildfires
On his tribe’s land, enveloped by the state of Oregon, Jesse Jackson stood at the threshold between two ecosystems: On one side of him, an open canopy bathed grasses and white oak trees in sunlight; on the other, a thick cover of evergreen trees darkened the landscape.
A forget-me-not wildflower bloomed in the clearing. This is where the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians have been restoring their oak savanna meadows, after decades of fire suppression and the removal of large, fire-adapted trees under federal management. In addition to land they bought from private owners, in 2018, the Tribe received 17,519 acres of land from the U.S. government for the Tribe to manage under its own authority.