This is What Economic Democracy Looks Like
One might peg 2019 as the year of the raised voice. From the Bronx and Brooklyn to San Juan and Buenaventura, and many other places across the globe, voices from the margins elevated in ways that inspired meaningful social change and served as catalysts to propel economic democracy and a greater awareness that wealth should be co-created and benefit all who participate.
For CoLab, those moments represent our central mission to innovate at the margins and to build capacity in communities for residents to be drivers of their own futures, on their own terms. Below we bring you three moments from our work this past year that capture the heart of what we fight for day in and out: the honor of helping to support partners’ striving for self-determination.
Fighting forward in the Bronx
In November 2018, in partnership with our Mel King Community Fellows class of New York City and State legislators from the Bronx and Central Brooklyn, MIT CoLab’s Just Urban Economies program sponsored an event to showcase the potential of economic democracy to build a more just and sustainable city for New Yorkers of color. Innovators from across the five boroughs gave witness to the many strategic collaborations and grassroots initiatives advancing economic democracy that are positioning New York as a leader in equitable urban development.
Convening women leaders from Quibdo, Colombia
In November 2019, CoLab’s Inclusive Regional Development program convened its first Encounter of Creators of Narratives of the Colombia Pacific in Quibdo. Artists, musicians, youth, dancers, and culture-bearers created a manifesto on recasting oppressive narratives of the Colombian Pacific. The group mapped out ways to shift narratives and tell stories of an empowered Pacific to combat oppression and claim the freedom to envision the future.
Identifying pathways to better health for all in Canarsie, Brooklyn
CoLab focuses on cultivating the collective knowledge of neighbors and students in Central Brooklyn to develop a shared vision for improving the health, lives, and livelihoods of residents. We’re working closely with Maimonides Medical Center, Local 1199/SEIU and New York State Nurses Association, Medgar Evers College and community groups, among others, to support the implementation of recommendations derived from four years of community-based Participatory Action Research (PAR) studies. Brooklyn Communities Collaborative and Citizenshare Brooklyn, are two resulting efforts that mobilize community organizations and activists, healthcare providers and social service organizations to reduce avoidable hospital use and improve community wellness in Brooklyn.