At a panel discussion at the National Press Club yesterday, NCBA CLUSA hosted academics, co-op leaders, activists and entrepreneurs to offer a unique perspective on the Black experience in the U.S.—that co-ops not only should be, but have historically been a social justice tool.

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Moderated by Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners, the panel included Cornelius Blanding, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund; Jessica Gordon Nembhard, professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, City University of New York and author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice; Alex Serrano, vice president of Strategic Development for NCBA CLUSA; and LaKeisha Wolf, executive director of the Ujamaa Collective.

During “The Power of Cooperative Ownership in the Black Community,” the panel discussed the historic role cooperatives have played in generating economic opportunities for Black Americans and explored the potential of cooperatives to drive economic growth and social progress in the U.S. and globally.

The full video is available below.