City Council recognizes October as National Co-op Month

The New Economy Coalition defines cooperatives as “community-centered, democratically-run, collectively-owned organizations that shift economic power and transform social relationships.” As Professor Jessica Gordon Nembhard describes in her book, "Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice", W.E.B. DuBois, one of Massachusetts' famous citizens, actively promoted cooperatives in the early 20th century because he saw that a group economy based on a sense of solidarity would serve to stabilize the Black community and promote a more humanistic economy.



In the City of Boston, there are housing co-ops, worker-co-ops, and consumer co-ops. Dorchester Food Co-op, Democracy Brewing, Boston Building Resources, MakeShift Boston, Olio Culinary Collective, CERO, Equal Exchange Coffee, Red Sun Press, and Vida Verde Women's Coop are just some of the incredible and innovative co-ops providing services to Boston and economic stability to their members.