Jessica Gordon Nembhard Collective Courage
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
jessica gordon nembhard COLLECTIVE COURAGE a history of african american cooperative economic thought and practice COLLECTIVE COURAGE 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd i 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd iiii 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM jessica gordon nembhard COLLECTIVE COURAGE A HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN COOPERATIVE ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND PRACTICE the pennsylvania state university press university park, pennsylvania 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd iiiiii 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, 1956– , author. Collective courage : a history of African American cooperative economic thought and practice / Jessica Gordon Nembhard. p. cm Summary: “Chronicles the achievements and challenges of African American collective economic action and social entrepreneurship in the struggle for civil rights and economic equality”—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-271-06216-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. African Americans—Economic conditions. 2. Cooperative societies—United States—History. 3. Cooperation—United States—History. I. Title. E185.8.G674 2014 330.90089'96073—dc23 2013042173 Copyright © 2014 Th e Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by Th e Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 Th e Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of Th e Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992. Th is book is printed on paper that contains 30% post-consumer waste. 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd iivv 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM To Curtis Haynes Jr. for vision, pioneering work, collegiality, and friendship. He asked some of the original questions and planted the seed. And to my children, Stephen Milete A. Nembhard and Susan Rosa A. Gordon Nembhard, for being genuinely interested, embracing the vision, and yet again allowing me to be so distracted. Susan Rosa, also, for designing several versions of a cover for this book. 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd v 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd vvii 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: A Continuous and Hidden History of Economic Defense and Collective Well-Being 1 part i: early african american cooperative roots 27 1 Early Black Economic Cooperation: Intentional Communities, Communes, and Mutual Aid 31 2 From Economic Independence to Political Advocacy: Cooperation and the Nineteenth-Century Black Populist Movement 48 3 Expanding the Tradition: Early African American–Owned “Cooperative” Businesses 60 part ii: deliberative cooperative economic development 79 4 Strategy, Advocacy, and Practice: Black Study Circles and Co-op Education on the Front Lines 85 5 Th e Young Negroes’ Co-operative League 112 6 Out of Necessity: Th e Great Depression and “Consumers’ Cooperation Among Negroes” 126 7 Continuing the Legacy: Nannie Helen Burroughs, Halena Wilson, and the Role of Black Women 148 8 Black Rural Cooperative Activity in the Early to Mid-Twentieth Century 172 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd vviiii 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM viii contents part iii: twentieth-century practices, twenty-first-century solutions 189 9 Th e Federation of Southern Cooperatives: Th e Legacy Lives On 193 10 Economic Solidarity in the African American Cooperative Movement: Connections, Cohesiveness, and Leadership Development 213 Time Line of African American Cooperative History, 1780–2012: Selected Events 239 Notes 251 References 263 Index 303 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd vviiiiii 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM Acknowledgments Th is has been more than a ten-year project and has taken up much of my academic career. Th erefore, almost everyone in my life has had to hear about the book or wait on me while I reedited or submitted yet another ver- sion. Most of the public presentations I have made have been about the book, so many audiences have listened patiently as I talked about the proj- ect. Many people have expressed kind interest in this book, and I’ve received several off ers of book parties. So there are many people to thank. If I have forgotten anyone, please blame it on aging and overwork, and not on inten- tional oversight. Th is has been a cooperative eff ort. Heartfelt thanks—for faith and friendship and for always believing that the book would be fi nished and would be great—go out to many people in my life, especially the following: j. jerome hughes (“How can I help to make sure the book gets done?”)—for myriad small and large gestures and tasks, free research assistance, and edito- rial advice. dominic moulden—for moral support and for reading the entire manu- script at least once! ajowa nzinga ifateyo—for always providing information and insight, sup- port, and especially ideas for promotion and dissemination. curtis haynes—for inspiring me to ask the question, for eternal intellectual inquiry, and for modeling the praxis. moussa walker foster—for faith, genuine interest, research, and editing. tom pierson—for adding my interests to yours and always sharing your great research. 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd iixx 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM x acknowledgments melinda chateauvert—for indescribable generosity in sharing personal research that provided essential historical perspective on the Ladies’ Auxiliary. clyde woods—for incredible insights, wisdom, and historical perspective, and for introducing me to the cooperative side of Fannie Lou Hamer. faye williams—for always asking about the book and reminding me of my priorities. I am indebted to my family and friends for their spiritual support and inspi- ration. My parents, Drs. Susan E. G. Gordon and Edmund W. Gordon, have always supported me in every way possible and continuously believed in me—their love and wisdom have been indispensable. My children are my inspiration and my purpose. Additional friends have enriched the book and my life in countless ways: Rosemarie Maldonado, Audrey Gillette, Rubie Coles, ShepsaraAmenamm Berry, Tania Abdulahad, Mary Helen Washing- ton, Elsa Barkley Brown, Rosemary Ndubuizu, Tanya Mitchell Lander, Khalil Tian Shahyd, Valerie O. Pang, Bob Stone, Christina Clamp, Gary Dymski, Sonia Pichardo, Michael Johnson and the members of the Grassroots Eco- nomic Organizing Collective, and the members of Organizing Neighborhood Equity DC. I am grateful to my research assistants: T. J. Learman, who was there at the beginning and found some of the original information from Crisis magazine and other publications, Christelle Onwu, Dwayne Pattison, Chryl Laird, Charlotte Otabor, Morgan Diamond, Nigel Greaves, Laura Blackwood, and Mike McGuire (who read through all the FSC annual reports). In-kind support and generous information also came from the Federa- tion of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund: John Zippert, Ajamu Nangwaya, Ralph Paige, George Howell, Heather Gray, Jerry Pennick, Melbah Smith, and Myra Bryant. Financial and academic support was generously provided by the Univer- sity of Saskatchewan Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and its director, Lou Hammond Ketilson (with support from CURA and SHHRC grants from the Canadian government); the Howard University Economics Department and the Center on Race and Wealth (and their directors, Rodney Green, Charles Betsey, and William Spriggs), which provided several research grants and a research assistant (with Ford Foundation grants to the Center on Race and Wealth); a PSC-CUNY 2012–13 research grant and the PSC union con- tract, which includes course buyouts, at City University of New York (through John Jay College); the John Jay College Provost’s Offi ce (through the Research Foundation of CUNY) for research support; the Africana Studies Department 118517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd8517-Gordon_CollectiveCourage.indd x 22/27/14/27/14 22:41:41 PPMM acknowledgments xi at John Jay College, CUNY, and its chair, C. Jama Adams; the African Ameri- can Studies Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, and its director at the time, Sharon Harley; the Democracy Collaborative at the Uni- versity of Maryland, College Park; and the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives in Madison (USDA research grant). Many thanks to Sandy Th atcher, my fi rst editor at Pennsylvania State Uni- versity Press, for always believing me when I promised to meet a deadline, and for maintaining his enthusiasm. Th anks to Kendra Boileau for seeing it through to the end and to Robert Turchick and the rest of the editorial staff at Penn State Press. Th anks to my anonymous reviewers. In addition, thanks to the many, many others who have shared information, provided study tours, showed interest, asked about the book, or invited me to speak about the sub- ject, including Carlos Perez de Alejo, Nicole Marín Baena, Melissa Hoover, Ed Whitfi eld, and the National Cooperative Business Association, the Canadian Association