This fall, our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship team jetted to Oakland, CA, for the Repaired Nations 7th Annual Black Solidarity Cooperative Conference, running Oct. 10-11, 2025. Over the long weekend, Program Director Nkuli Tabata and Program Manager Leanna Browne built new relationships, learned about exciting cooperative work happening throughout the country, and reconnected with folks from the 2023 conference in Ghana.
This year’s theme, Leaving a Legacy: Land, Wellness, Cooperative Futures, came to life in every moment, from the opening drumming and libations to the closing reflections that reminded us our work is both historical and visionary. Being surrounded by so many Black cooperative leaders, organizers, and culture bearers reminded us that this movement is rooted in generations of collective care, resource sharing, and imagination.
A couple standouts from the many amazing groups in attendance:
- Aleta Toure with Parable of the Sower Co-op, a Black women-led, worker-owned, intentional community cooperative for Black women and their families. Their mission is to develop a Black land housing model for Black women organizers and worker-owned intentional communities.
- The REAL People’s Fund, a $10 million community-powered fund and entrepreneurship program that includes non-extractive capital, holistic business support, and opportunities to build political power for BIPOC East Bay communities (Black, Indigenous, Spanish-speaking/Latine, Asian/AAPI, low income, immigrant, undocumented, formerly incarcerated and working-class communities of color)
Each session wove together practical learning with cultural and spiritual grounding. Conversations about ownership, land stewardship, and building community-based institutions were layered with song, poetry, and ancestral honoring.
“It reminded me that cooperation is not just an economic model; it is a cultural practice and a way of being that has sustained our people for generations.”
— Nkuli Tabata, Director of Community Wealth Building
Cultivating Our Cooperative Roots: A Gallery Walk of Black Cooperative Journeys
Nkuli and Leanna closed the first day with their session, Our Cooperative Roots: A Gallery Walk of Black Cooperative Journeys, highlighting people, moments, and groups in Black cooperative economics past and present.
The activity invited people to reflect on what cooperation looks like in practice, what sustains it, and what makes it hard. It moved us to see people recognize themselves in one another’s stories, the shared challenges, the moments of growth, and the deep commitment it takes to build something together. The gallery became a space of storytelling and connection, showing how our experiences are part of a larger story of Black cooperative work and collective possibility.
“It was powerful to share the story of the Black Panther Party’s Survival Programs while in Oakland, where the Black Panther Party was founded. It was also inspiring to hear and learn from Charlotte O’Neal, also known as Mama C, who shared about leading with love. Mama C and her husband, Pete O’Neal, were Black Panthers and live in Tanzania, where they co-founded the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC), an NGO based in Arusha, Tanzania, providing programs and projects for both rural and urban communities and connecting communities in America to the world.”
— Leanna Browne, North Star Program Manager
On Sunday, Leanna joined a day trip to Oaxxanda, a sanctuary of holistic healing and restoration in Berry Creek, CA. This Black-led land co-op is an exciting site of possibilities for Black people to center land stewardship, self-determination, and healing.
It was much needed to experience Black people gathering in nature to rest, be in community, and just be. We enjoyed a nourishing meal prepared by some of the organizers and connected with each other through fellowship. Some people took naps and played in the creek. Some folks went on a tour of the land to experience its fullness and see the progress of the land project. The children played, running around with laughter and joy. The fresh mountain air, quiet, and stillness were healing.
“I’m grateful I had this time and space to experience the land in community with other Black people. Much gratitude to Mia Jackson, Shayara Etter, Gregory Jackson Jr., Mikhael Ali, and the rest of the Repaired Nations team for the opportunity to share and continue building the Black cooperative ecosystem together.”
— Leanna
Listening to organizers from Oakland, Richmond, and beyond reminded us how much possibility lives within this movement. People are reclaiming land, developing cooperative businesses, and creating new models for shared wealth and belonging. These stories affirmed that our work is not only about ownership, but about building community and ensuring that our people have the power to shape their own futures.
“Leaving the conference, I felt renewed and grateful to be part of this broader journey. The experience affirmed that the work we are doing at North Star and Nexus is connected to something much bigger than ourselves. Land and legacy are not abstract ideas; they are living commitments that require care, trust, and continued practice. This gathering reminded me that the future we dream about is already unfolding in the ways we collaborate, care for one another, and choose to keep building together.”
— Nkuli
Repaired Nations has built something powerful and lasting, a living example of what it means to invest in cooperative ecosystems that center Black voices and creativity. We give our deep gratitude for hosting and curating this beautiful gathering with so much intention and care!
