Matt Fontes Carroll
Prof. Henry Renski
Regional Planning 643
May 12, 2022
Boston has one of the highest income gaps in the United States, ranking among the most unequal cities in the country based on the disparity between its wealthiest and poorest residents (Holmes and Berube 2016). This inequality has far-reaching consequences. High levels of inequality within a city typically result in a smaller tax base and more complicated politics when it comes to making capital investments (i.e., “who benefits?”). Additionally, high inequality often negatively impacts the quality of public schools, as wealthier parents in unequal communities are more likely to opt for private education instead of supporting a struggling local public school system. This imbalance is also thought to contribute to higher prices for goods, disproportionately impacting lower-income groups (Holmes and Berube 2016).
The systemic nature of inequality under capitalism is well-documented. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 Current Population Survey, the groups most affected by poverty include households led by single mothers (24.3%), young adults without a high school diploma (23.7%), unemployed parents (26.4%), and Black households (18.8%) (Fay 2021).
A deeper look at the Black-white wealth gap, based on data from the Brookings Institution, highlights this disparity in terms of family wealth: the average white family holds $171,000 in wealth, while the average Black family holds just $17,150—nearly ten times less. This gap results from centuries of systemic inequality and discrimination, including the legacy of slavery, the failure of the Freedman’s Savings Bank (which lost nearly $3 million in Black deposits in 1874 without FDIC protection), the violent destruction of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma (known as “Black Wall Street”) in 1921, and exclusionary policies such as the GI Bill’s housing provisions, which denied mortgage opportunities to Black families (McIntosh, Nunn, and Shambaugh 2020).
Despite Boston’s unfortunate history of inequality and racism (Adams 2021), the city was once a hub for revolutionary activity. Although Massachusetts has maintained its reputation as a progressive stronghold in recent decades, efforts to create intergenerational wealth, particularly within Black and immigrant communities, are now being led by local community organizations, rather than politicians. These organizations are dedicated to promoting economic justice and restoring community ownership in historically marginalized communities. What follows is a review of five such organizations currently working to build wealth and foster economic freedom in Greater Boston.
Ujima, a Swahili term meaning “Collective Work and Responsibility,” is also the third principle of Kwanzaa. In Boston, the Ujima Project describes itself as an “ecosystem of innovative strategies for transformation.” In economic development terms, it functions as a local business association that also serves as a community-controlled investment fund. It describes itself as “a community-controlled, local economy led by Boston’s working-class residents of color.”
The organization’s structure is based on its members, which include individuals, small business owners, workers, grassroots activists, impact investors, and faith and civic groups. Each member can contribute to a capital fund, and every member, regardless of contribution size, has a vote in the governing body. Community votes are held frequently to determine which local businesses or real estate projects should be funded, as well as the standards these projects must meet (e.g., paying a living wage). Assemblies are held at both the neighborhood and citywide levels to determine the priorities most important to specific communities and to Boston as a whole.
Ujima also supports a Good Business Alliance, through which businesses engage in knowledge transfer, provide technical support, and collaborate on cooperative purchasing and other ventures that allow member firms to benefit from economies of scale. Additionally, Ujima is transparent in its lobbying efforts, focusing on divesting from extractive industries (e.g., fossil fuels and prisons) and increasing investment in social enterprises like its own. Its proposal for a local time-based currency, the “Timebank,” reflects its commitment to promoting cooperation and mutual growth. Ultimately, Ujima’s mission is to foster cyclical community investment and endogenous growth (The Ujima Project 2022).
The Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Initiative (SEI) primarily serves as a fundraising and grant-making entity for its network of partner organizations. Its core mission is to connect grassroots community organizations with donors, linking them to a “funder cohort” called the “Solidarity Philanthropy Learning Circle.” The organizations in this network work together to promote a “Just Transition” toward economic systems based on economic democracy and collective decision-making—principles central to the solidarity economy movement (Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Initiative 2022).
One of SEI’s partner organizations, the Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity (CCDS), was founded in 2015 by Latino residents of East Boston to address concerns about gentrification and displacement. CCDS has helped establish three worker-owned cooperative businesses in East Boston: La Sanghita Café, The Eastie Farm, and the East Boston Meditation Center. The center emphasizes the importance of community education, particularly among Spanish-speaking residents, and promotes cooperative ownership as a pathway to economic freedom. Their long-term goal is to become a self-sustaining, community-supported entity, independent of grant funding (Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity 2022).
Another member of SEI, the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network, aims to protect communities from the pressures of speculative real estate development, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), founded in 1988, is the most prominent example of a community land trust (CLT) in Greater Boston. It owns over thirty acres of land in the Dudley Street area, with parks, affordable housing, a charter school, and urban farms. CLT homeowners benefit from financial support that reduces the cost of private mortgage insurance. Although home sales are capped at a 5% increase over the original purchase price, residents can sell their homes at a price that reflects the cost of improvements, offering them a more affordable and wealth-building alternative to renting. The network continues to promote this model, although it acknowledges that acquiring additional land in Boston’s competitive real estate market remains a significant challenge (Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network 2022).
Other members of the Solidarity Economy Initiative include the Black Economic Justice Institute, City Life / Vida Urbana, the Brazilian Women’s Group, the Chinese Progressive Association, Matahari Women Workers’ Center, Neighbor to Neighbor, and Neighbors United for a Better East Boston—all of which aim to support marginalized communities in Greater Boston and promote wealth-building through community ownership (Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Initiative 2022).
The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides technical support to emerging cooperative social enterprises. Its programs include the Participatory Management Initiative, which helps business owners incorporate democratic practices into their operations, with the goal of transitioning to worker ownership. CDI also publishes guides like Co-op 101: A Guide to Starting a Cooperative to assist new cooperative founders.
Through its Business Ownership Solutions program, CDI helps business owners and employees explore worker-ownership models as a strategy for business succession or growth. This program offers a fair return to business owners while enabling employees to build wealth. Another CDI program, New England Resident-Owned Communities (NEROC), helps private mobile home parks transition to cooperative ownership, enabling residents to purchase and manage the parks themselves. NEROC has assisted residents in converting over 4,800 homes to resident ownership across more than 50 parks in New England (New England Resident-Owned Communities (NEROC) 2022).
CDI’s Cooperative Food Systems program applies cooperative principles to agricultural businesses, supporting farms in transitioning to cooperative ownership. Many of these farms, such as New Hampshire Community Seafood, operate as multi-stakeholder cooperatives, where both producers and customers invest in the business at the start of the season (Cooperative Food Systems 2022).
The Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (CoWOP) is a Massachusetts-based organization that advocates for cooperative ownership through legislation. Its platform includes proposals to expand workforce development programs like those under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), with a focus on cooperative development and training in business ownership and management skills. CoWOP also advocates for state funding for cooperative businesses and increased support for non-profit organizations providing technical assistance to cooperatives (The Cooperative MA Platform 2022).
CoWOP supports several pieces of legislation aimed at fostering cooperative ownership. These include a bill (H.2059) to fund workforce development in cooperative business management and a bill (H.3147) that would create a commission to study the viability of cooperatives as a statewide economic development strategy. The coalition has recently expanded to include several members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Cooperatives (The Cooperative MA Platform 2022).
The current wealth gap in the United States, as illustrated by the disparities in Boston, presents a range of economic and social challenges. A meaningful solution requires the empowerment of marginalized communities and the dismantling of barriers to capital ownership. While cooperative businesses and community-controlled development offer a viable model for wealth creation, government funding is essential to support these initiatives. Organizations like Ujima, CDI, and SEI are at the forefront of the fight for economic justice in Greater Boston, promoting cooperative ownership and community control over local assets. These organizations and others across the country demonstrate that economic freedom and democracy can be realized through inclusive and cooperative development practices.