Shared Work And Wealth

d7c813e9-32f9-4394-93a9-952610c29211

Photo: REUTERS

Kwanzaa Day 4

Principle #4 Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) commits us to the principle and practice of shared work and wealth. It stresses our kinship with others and the environment and appreciation for the need for a just and equitable distribution of the good for everyone so that all can live lives of dignity and decency.

This principle urges us to build and maintain our stores, shops, and other business and to profit from them together. This principle teaches us an ethics of shared work and shared wealth and calls on us to engage in economic practices that are constantly concerned about satisfying our needs without exploiting or injuring others and the world.

I think about our Native brother and sisters at Standing Rock. They have the right to control and benefit from the resources of their land.  It has been beautiful to watch their act of activism and defiance in choosing the earth over profits.

Because it all boils down that we all have the right to live lives of dignity and decency.  Whether you are in Standing Rock or Flint. Whether you are in Ferguson or Charlotte.  Our economic practices should never be about satisfying our needs at the expense of others.

What happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

I’m committing to rest: my sabbatical

“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” -Zora Neale Hurston Deeply tired, emotionally exhausted Black women seem to be the norm. Many of us watched our mothers, and grandmothers, and aunts, continue to take on more, and more, and...

You can’t talk about race if you ain’t gonna talk about power

Race is a human-invented concept used to categorize people with devastating consequences. White supremacy is the system of power used to create and reinforce those consequences. Race is more than skin color and hair texture. It is more than boxes or categories we like...

Work Cultures Should Not Consume Us

I have a question, what do you think your life would look like if everything (or even a few!) of the below were reality? Universal health care Universal sick-leave benefits Universal childcare and elder care National parental/care-giver leave policy Thriving wage...