Part of the Series
Solutions
(Image: Young woman make hairdressing for older woman via Shutterstock)When Farah Tanis began to meet with a group of low-income women to discuss their economic challenges, she found that nine out of ten were survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault.
“Most of us had grown up in poverty and we started looking at what were the systemic causes of poverty for us,” she said. “We started looking at economic security as a human right and an extension of the Civil Rights.”
Out of those conversations came the Black Women’s Blueprint, a group that now anchors a bartering network, a sou-sou (savings pool), and several other cooperative projects.
“Through our barter network we were able to barter food for the week, for a car ride for the week, and that’s what sustained many of us.
“It prevented homelessness, starvation and kids being left at home alone by themselves. The barter network builds community and it builds trust,” explained Tanis at a panel discussion co-sponsored by GRITtv.
From the Underground Railroad to the Civil Rights movement and beyond, cooperative strategies developed by African American women have played a leading role in helping communities survive hard times, said author, economist Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of Collective Courage, a History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice.
“Like most women, black women have always been in the background,” Gordon Nembhard said. “Often the leaders and the spokespeople were men but the people doing all of the work and the strategizing were women.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
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Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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