Co-op Community Conversations: A year of exploring the intersection of racial, social, and food justice

The 2021 event series “Co-op Community Conversations: Exploring the intersection of racial, social, and food justice” was a community engagement series collaboratively presented by Eastside Food Co-op, Mississippi Market Food Co-op, Seward Community Co-op, and Twin Cities Co-op Partners as a way to examine and connect our cooperative values with social justice movements. We were honored to be joined by community leaders, artists, chefs, and activists over the past year in discussing how we can integrate our values as part of a broader cooperative movement working for justice.

Stay tuned for future co-op conversation series events.

Upcoming series events

Why We Must Change the Narrator: An Evening with In Black Ink
Thursday, June 16 | 6-7 p.m. | Zoom
Join us for an evening with In Black Ink, whose mission is to “create spaces where the stories and voices of people from African heritage are celebrated, documented and archived.” Co-founder Rekhet will speak about representation in literature and the publishing industry as well as how In Black Ink supports storytellers in reclaiming their narratives. We’ll also hear from a local Black author who will read an excerpt as part of the event.
RSVP here.

Previous series events

Jim Crow of the North

For the first in our Community Conversations series, we looked at the history of housing inequities in the Twin Cities through the documentary film “Jim Crow Of The North”. The virtual panel discussion featured the film’s producer, Dan Bergin, on how the film delves into the complex history of racial covenants in the Twin Cities and systematic racism that has lasting repercussions on housing inequities today.

We were also joined by Rebecca Walker from Mapping Prejudice, a group dedicated to seeking to expose structural racism through the unearthing thousands of racial covenants that reserved land for the exclusive use of white people.

Food justice activist Miah Ulysse connected these structural barriers to food and land access, and what we as cooperators can do to take action on these ongoing inequities.

Mississippi Market Recap

WATCH VIDEO & READ DISCUSSION

Art + Abolition: Memorialize the Movement, Deepen Our Commitment

On Thursday, June 24, community members gathered at our Franklin and Friendship stores for Art + Abolition; an art-centered event of connection, reflection, and a renewed commitment to social and racial justice. We were joined by Memorialize the Movement, in ceremony to take down and receive the remaining boards of protest art that were installed on our buildings in June of 2020. The muralists discussed the significance of their work as they navigate using creativity as a means towards racial justice, and our community gathered to create their own art while enjoying music from local DJs.

WATCH VIDEO & READ RECAP

Green Card Food Voices

For our third event of the Co-op Community Conversations series, we partnered with Green Card Voices, a local non-profit organization that uplifts the stories of immigrants living in the Twin Cities and around the U.S. We heard the stories of three local immigrants who own local food businesses in the Twin Cities: Naima Dhore of Naima’s Farm and Somali American Farmers Association, Ruhel Islam of Gandhi Mahal and Curry in a Hurry, and Belén Rodriguez of Quebracho Empanadas. They joined us for a virtual panel discussion about the immigrant experience in our community, owning a food business, and weathering the pandemic and civil unrest of 2020.

WATCH VIDEO of panel event

Connecting to the Land

In our final Co-op Community Conversations series event, Native American community leaders Hope Flanagan, Neely Snyder, and Vanessa Casillas joined us for a conversation about the interconnected relationships between land, water, and food systems in Minnesota. We discussed the impact of environmental health on Indigenous foods and what we can do to support food access in Native communities.

Learn about the panelists

WATCH VIDEO OF EVENT