Common Good Collective

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This Reader is an expression of Common Good Collective, a vision for an alternative way, rooted in the act of eliminating economic isolation, the significance of place, and the structure of belonging. Whether you come at this from a place of economics, social good, or faith, we hope these reflections help orient your day in fresh, provocative, courageous ways. And most importantly, we hope these lead you into the sharing of gifts in particular communities—into co-creating a common good.

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Leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, Reader, Structure Of Belonging, Wilderness: Sharing and Reorientation Permalink

Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver his Famous Speech

July 4th, 1776 was declared Independence Day for the United States as it was the date the Declaration of Independence was signed by all 13 colonies. Yet took nearly 100 more years for most Black people in our nation to get a tastes of full citizenship, and that only last until the Compromise of 1877 (which ended the reconstruction era and marked the beginning of white supremacist terror across the South and the Great Migration). This is why many communities across the country read this speech by Frederick Douglass every year, and why it still feels so relevant today.

‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass’ Speech

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 Leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, Reader, Sabbath: Time for the Unexpected, Significance Of Place Permalink

Place Plays a Part

This week, Common Good’s Reader Curation Team found several pieces that commented on the roll of place in our collective story. Place nourishes us, it reminds us of our history, and it mirrors our humanity. Deepening our understanding of the part places plays in our common stories expands our imaginations and draws us into deeper communion with our neighbors and environment.

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 Imagination: The Prophetic Act of Living an Alternative Narrative, Reader, Significance Of Place Permalink

The City as an Emergent Life Form

“Organism, 1975” by director Hilary Harris is an imaginative short film that was ahead of it’s time. How we live in a moment in history where the composition of cities is changing rapidly, this artistic commentary that juxtaposes images of our cells with those of busy streets and bustling to remind us our humanities interconnectedness with the places we inhabit.

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 Eliminating economic isolation, Leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, Reader Permalink

Tierra Fértil Provides Healing and Hope

Community is nourishing to body, soul, and spirit. In our society that constantly seeks to isolate the tangible and intangible, Indigenous peoples tell an alternative story.  Tierra Fértil is one example of this ancient way.

Farm cooperatives allow Latinos to grow and sell food on their own terms
by Victoria Bouloubasis

On Sundays, Edith Alas Ortega travels 20 minutes from her home to a farm field in Henderson County, North Carolina, and takes a deep breath. “There’s a mental and physical healing that happens out here,” she said in Spanish. Ortega is one of five members of Tierra Fértil Coop—“fertile ground” in English—an agricultural, worker-owned cooperative for and by Latino immigrants. The group — three Salvadoran and three Mexican immigrants — meet every week on their one-acre parcel in Hendersonville that provides vegetables for the families involved as well as enough for resale, with a focus on culturally appropriate ingredients for the Latino market.

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