African-American co-ops

Minneapolis Mayor's Husband Breaks Marxist's Arm Defending His Co-op in Street Brawl!

Minneapolis Mayor's Husband Breaks Marxist's Arm Defending His Co-op in Street Brawl!

Yes, it’s true, and yes, it happened in 1976, when Gary Cunningham was still a teenager. The Marxist in question was a member of the Co-op Organization (C.O.) who had come to attack Gary’s uncle Moe Burton and to take control of the Bryant-Central Co-op, which Moe had founded.

Bryant-Central: Three Tries at a Co-op

Bryant-Central: Three Tries at a Co-op

“No one would ever mistake Moe for a hippie.  But I think he liked that service part, and I think it was part of his whole life's arc. That he moved away from that serious revolutionary political stuff, more into a service role. Trying to be more effective. Trying to be more productive.”

The Midcentury African-American Co-ops of the Twin Cities

The Midcentury African-American Co-ops of the Twin Cities

 So right as this old wave is coming to a close, at least for the grocery co-ops, the folks in your documentary are first getting the idea that maybe we should just put some food out on a porch or we should find a way to do this at cost. It’s an interesting notion that as soon as the one wave recedes the other one starts to pick up the pace...

African-American Cooperation in Minnesota: Mutual Aid in the Early Years

African-American Cooperation in Minnesota: Mutual Aid in the Early Years

Radical Roots: How far back does cooperation among African-Americans in Minnesota go?

Tom Pierson: As soon as people are migrating into Minnesota from areas like Missouri and other places South for the most part, there are efforts at mutual aid. One of the common things that there is research on and there are publications on is clubs, societies and fraternities and these mutual aid societies that exist. In some ways those mutual aid movements are similar to the cooperative movement. 

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THE CO-OP WARS // INFO@COOPERATIVESOCIETY.INFO

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