The unemployment rate for Black workers, especially Black women, keeps rising, reaching 7.3% by the end of 2025. Systemic racism and inequities in the labor market mean that when the economy cracks, Black workers feel the pain first.
We don’t control the economy, but we can lean on this tradition we've always had. For generations, our community has helped one another survive economically tough times through co-ops and mutual aid.
Some enslaved people had rare opportunities to earn money. They would pool their earnings to buy their own and each other's freedom. Those practices evolved into mutual aid societies that use members' dues to cover daily living expenses, medical bills, and even funerals.
In 1967, the women of Alabama’s Freedom Quilting Bee cooperative bought three acres of land and built a sewing factory that offered day care services for members' children. After the Rodney King uprising in 1992, a student-led co-op in Los Angeles called Food From the Hood started a school garden and offered produce to its low-income neighbors.
We have countless historical examples of economic cooperation in our community. Especially when times are hard, we can lean on each other to make it through. Start here: Identify two or three organizations in your community, like free pantries and neighborhood gardens, that you can contribute to or lean on for support. And consider bartering goods and services with your loved ones. We all we got. You don't have to do anything alone.
Want to learn more? Check out our new series and our latest 15 minute episode on YouTube that explores the Black Wealth Scam: https://youtu.be/28uNWl3q9sw