Collective courage : a history of African American cooperative economic thought and practice

325 Pages·2014·1.6 MB·English

by  Jessica Gordon Nembhard

jessica gordon nembhard
c o l l e c t i v e
c o u r a g e
a history of
african american
cooperative
economic thought
and practice
COLLECTIVE COURAGE
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jessica gordon nembhard
COLLECTIVE
COURAGE
A HISTORY OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN
COOPERATIVE
ECONOMIC THOUGHT
AND PRACTICE
the pennsylvania state university press
university park, pennsylvania
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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