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Letter from the Board Ladonna Sanders Redmond, Board President

The Season of Reckoning and the 8th Cooperative Principle

We are in a season of reckoning. COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd catapulted the global discussion of race and inequity to the forefront. Those of us that live in bodies of culture already knew what the rest of the world found out – racism exists but is often unnamed. COVID-19 allowed folks to act on bias and racism against Asian and Pacific Islanders, who have experienced increased violence and various forms of harassment.

Cooperatives are in a season of reckoning. Cooperatives can and should be places of abolition. Being a leader in the co-operative sector, Seward Co-op has taken on the challenge to become an anti-oppressive business. As co-op owners, we look to the enterprise or business to provide just and healthful food that supports the planet and people.

To guide this work, cooperatives internationally are looking for a way to live the values of inclusion. One of the ideas is to add an 8th cooperative principle that clearly lays out the goal of inclusion and solidarity. Recently, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) agreed to add an 8th cooperative principle that specifically identified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. By adopting a statement of equity and inclusion, cooperatives can let the world know that businesses that fly the banner of cooperation are in solidarity with all people who seek freedom and justice.

As we begin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Seward Co-op, this year’s annual meeting explores these topics with our guest speaker, Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of “Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice.” I look forward to hearing from Seward Co-op owners about how they are supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in the co-op. How can we be a cooperative of liberation and abolition? Do you think that an 8th Cooperative Principle that identifies diversity and inclusion is important to making co-ops equitable?

I am reminded that we must have the liberation and abolition in us, as we demand it of others. And no one can be left behind because “none of us are free, unless all of us are free.”

In peace and freedom,

LaDonna Sanders Redmond