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Race & Ethnicity

stories

Black Wall Street (Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma)

From revelation to reckoning to revolution: In pursuit of racial justice

MLK said we need “a radical redistribution of economic and political power” to address the impact of racism in America. One place to start is to assess the transgenerational impact of slavery and systemic racism on Black people and what it would take to repair that damage. read more
Phil Thompson speaking to a group of people

J. Phillip Thompson on community wealth building, racial equity, and democracy

In this special episode, CLES shares J. Phillip Thompson’s keynote address from its Community Wealth Building Summit in November 2020. read more
Defund militarized police

Defund the militarization of local police and fund community needs instead

One way to defund and demilitarize police departments is to end the federal law known as Section 1033, which enables the transfer of military equipment—weapons of war—to local police departments that have used them against Black Lives Matter protesters. read more
Moms 4 Housing sign

Direct action, moms and a housing crisis

How a takeover by four women of vacant housing in Oakland, California is helping drive systemic solutions to the housing crisis. read more

videos

A pictue of Shirley Sherrod superimposed on a rural field with the words "Free the Land" above

Shirley Sherrod on Land & Community Control

The struggle for Black economic independence: not a lot of people, particularly people of color, have had a chance to design a new community, to be different and equal, co-owned by its residents. read more
A picture of people harvesting plants

Soul Fire Farm: Feeding the Soul, Growing Community

A farm in upstate New York is dedicated to addressing the painful history of farmwork to Black people in the US, while also growing fresh vegetables and community surrounding it. read more
A picture of the people highlighted in the episode

Gender, Race, and the Next System

The Laura Flanders Show, in collaboration with the Next System Project, has been taking up themes of gender and race, and their intersectionality with the next economic system. read more
Line of African Americans under billboard picturing smiling happy white people, with text reading "There's no way like the American way"

Phil Thompson on the Historical Fight for Civil and Economic Rights

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Phil Thompson discusses the historical opposition to slavery as a labor system, and the Black struggle to advance economic and human rights. read more

collections

Prisons and policing: systemic challenges and alternative visions

What can advocates for a more democratic economy learn from the movements for the abolition of prisons and policing? read more

reports

A satellite view of the US at night

The Index of Systemic Trends

One of the signs that a crisis is systemic, rather than purely political or economic, is that key indicators decline or stay the same regardless of changes in political power or business cycles. This first edition of the Index of Systemic Trends is an effort to quantify, track, and visualize this crisis. It shows the need to move in the direction of a new system that can and will produce better outcomes. read more