Welcome Cynthia -- leading Black co-op entrepreneurs to build Power in Numbers!

Dear Co-op Cincy community,

Ware OVERJOYED to announce that Cynthia Pinchback-Hines has joined our staff as our new Racial Justice Educator and Co-op Developer. She’s already hard at work, helping us ground and contextualize the racial justice components of the manual we’re publishing for Co-op U.

Cynthia is also starting to recruit for our first-ever cohort of ALL Black-led co-ops. Our new program, Power in Numbers, provides teams of Black entrepreneurs in Cincinnati an opportunity to work through the process of launching a cooperative business, and build Black wealth for the long term.

The program also has some added perks to help overcome racial disparities, from bank accounts to banks’ lending practices, by linking graduates to $2,000 in seed capital for their co-op to launch, a $10,000 prize for the best proposal, and access to our non-extractive loan fund, designed specifically to get our grads’ co-ops on their feet.

Members of the cohort will learn from co-op development professionals, as well as the skills and wisdom of other Black entrepreneurs in this space. The course includes tools to build and test a successful business, as well as the tools needed to design a worker co-op that serves each team’s goals and values.

Applications are due March 8.

Curious if YOU should apply for Power in Numbers? Learn more here, or reach out to cynthia@coopcincy.org

As if that wasn’t enough big news - we also launched our NATIONAL child care Co-op U, with teams from our partner networks Cooperación Santa Ana in California; Wellspring Cooperative in Springfield, MA; and Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi. Cincinnati is especially well-represented in the national cohort, with 2 full teams. Our CareShare team is working on potential changes to the business model, and helping our sister cities learn from our experience. An existing child care center in Cincinnati is also working on a possible expansion and transition to worker ownership!

One Last Chance To Fuel Our Movement In 2020!

Dear community,

There’s no denying that 2020 was tough. Yet in the midst of heartbreak, grief and uncertainty, the Co-op Cincy team experienced some of the biggest blessings and successes in our network’s history. We’re reaching out with a joyful recap and a request for end-of-year donations, to help propel our work forward as we enter 2021.

As we welcomed new staff members, Paloma Correa and Marakah Mancini, we also helped 5 powerful Black women launch A Touch of TLC Home Health Care Services and planted the seeds that sprang into Bhutanese Bari, a grocery delivery service being developed by 10 Bhutanese refugees.

Queen City Commons is our brand new compost cooperative, joining Our Harvest and the tireless Apple Street Market team in the food justice arena. Our Harvest was able to restructure its debt, increase production by 33%, and return to profitability.

The Cincy Cleaning Co-op, Renting Partnerships and Sustainergy Cooperative all offer equitable ways to support Cincinnati residents. Sustainergy just became the first co-op in our network to pay back its entire loan from our revolving loan fund through the Seed Commons national financial cooperative--and secure a new loan that will allow the co-op to double production and expand its solar offerings!

CareShare serves as the anchor for our national child care cooperative work, which we have the honor of building alongside Cooperation Jackson, Wellspring Cooperative, and Cooperación Santa Ana, four incredible networks of co-op developers located in Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Southern California.

At the same time, we are both deepening and broadening here in Ohio, and launched a statewide network, in partnership with Co-op Dayton and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. Additional Ohio cooperators will be joining us in 2021!

We launched the Business Legacy Fund, which puts a transition to worker ownership within reach for retiring business owners, saving jobs, stabilizing our economy, and opening up new pathways to worker ownership for more Cincinnati workers than ever before. We are entering 2021 with a strong cohort of 6 finalists in a variety of industries.

Also in 2021: Co-op Cincy will be publishing two books and two facilitator guides, in English and Spanish. That’s 8 books!

These resources will allow us to expand the union co-op movement by putting our educational curriculum directly into the hands of co-op developers around the country. As part of this work, Cynthia Pinchback Hines, Co-op Cincy founding board member, educator, and organizer, will be joining our staff to strengthen the racial justice components of the curricula and lead our first-ever Co-op U cohort dedicated explicitly to Black-led co-ops.

You have helped make all of this possible, and our community of co-ops appreciates you deeply! If you’re able to give one last time this year, we will enter 2021 on the strong financial footing that gives us the confidence to undertake this ambitious set of projects.

In deep gratitude and solidarity,

Ellen & our team at Co-op Cincy

Support Cincy Co-ops this holiday season!

Business Legacy Fund selects 6 businesses as finalists

Real quick - before we get to your holiday gift-giving ideas...

The Business Legacy Fund is off and running! TWELVE businesses have put their hats in the ring, and our team of financial analysts and advisory council members have been working with semifinalists, to determine the best candidates to take the next step to transition their business to worker ownership. Our Business Advisory Council choose 6 finalists this month. Other applicants were referred to other resources, within Co-op Cincy or with other small business organizations.

What an exciting process! 

This holiday season, our Cincy co-ops are offering a variety of products and services -- big and small -- for you, your household, and the people in your life! You can also make a one-time or sustaining donation in your name or on behalf of someone you love. 

Another way to support our co-ops is by becoming a mentor.  We are looking for caring, respectful, people with an advanced understanding of business who want to walk alongside a co-op, as an active support, for a minimum of a year. You can see more details and sign up here! 

In the meantime, we're wishing you a healthy, peaceful holiday season, as we enter the winter solstice and the light begins to return. 

Opportunities to Support a Co-op! 

Our Harvest offers gift certificates that enable you to bring fresh, local, healthy produce to your loved ones in the Greater Cincinnati area! Our Harvest also offers opportunities to donate that same healthy food to neighbors who are struggling. To be inspired, check out Our Harvest’s pitch which came in third place at SustainableCincy.

A Touch of TLC Home Health Care Services can help you or an elder you love avoid assisted living or a retirement home, with their non-medical care. Sometimes all you need is a touch of TLC. Call 513-580-9520 or email ATouchOfTLCHomeCare@gmail.com for your free in-home consultation -- complete with a tasty pie during the month of December!

Queen City Commons, More houses, more business has allowed Queen City Commons to grow from 1,000 lbs in May to more than 17,00 lb this November. Join the collective effort by subscribing to their composting pickup services, for just $10 a month! You also can always buy a membership to someone you love wink!

Cincy Cleaning Co-op Give the gift of a clean, comfortable home this holiday season! The Cincy Cleaning Co-op is offering gift certificates for a 4-hour cleaning for only $100. Get your holiday gift certificates now!

Sustainergy continues to build their solar work, and just hosted Brent Ritzel from Straight Up Solar in Carbondale, Illinois, for a 2-day knowledge exchange. Combining Sustainergy's energy efficiency work with solar means YOU save money on your solar array! Call 513.244.2700 or email sustainergy@sustainergy.coop for your free energy audit today.

Bhutanese Bari is our newest co-op and has run 3 successful Saturday pop-up sales in Mount Airy. We'll continue to keep you in the loop on their work!

CareShare has shares forming in Oakley, Norwood, Northside, Price Hill, Loveland, and beyond. Visit careshare.coop or reach out to admin@careshare.coop for more information!

Renting Partnerships is growing. Check out Next City's feature article on their work!

There is a chance for Apple Street Market to come to life at the corner of Hamilton and Blue Rock, as part of a mixed-use development by PLK Communities. Hear the latest and help support Apple Street by joining the next Northside Community Council meeting at 7pm on Monday, December 21st!

We're gonna party like it's 2099! 💜💖💜✨💜

We invite you to join us at our annual event, a futuristic celebration titled, "Tonight we're gonna party like it's 2099." This year's event was inspired by the profound reckoning and transformation sparked in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis in 2020. At 7 pm on Thursday, November 19, our community of visionaries, organizers, and cooperative entrepreneurs will look "back" on the ways that Co-op Cincy accelerated the worker co-op movement between 2020 and 2099. 

When 2020 brought the start of a profound transformation, Co-op Cincy accelerated our vision of eliminating barriers and creating an economy that works for all, alongside everyday people from all walks of life.

Now we're celebrating nearly a century of transformation, and ready to step into 2100, blessed to live in the equitable, thriving Cincinnati we all created together. 

We'll also be joined by partners across the state of Ohio and Turtle Island* to reflect on all they have built since 2020. 

We'll start with the steps we took in 2020 and 2021, which we recognize as essential to our new economy. Steps such as:

• Building a statewide worker co-op network in Ohio, in partnership with Co-op Dayton and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center

• Publishing the Co-op U curricula and legal guides that allowed co-op developers around the country to accelerate cooperative development.

• Launching the Business Legacy Fund, which brought a sale to employees within reach for the first several retiring business owners

• Building the first national worker cooperative to be co-imagined and co-created within four very different place-based co-op networks

This program will inspire you to connect and co-create with us and our local, national and global community.
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Can't make the event, but still want to be part of our co-op movement? You can become a sustaining partner by clicking "make it monthly" when you donate to fuel our movement.

Opportunities to support a co-op! 

CareShare has shares forming in Oakley, Fairfax, Northside, Price Hill, Loveland and beyond. Visit careshare.coop or reach out to admin@careshare.coop for more information! 

Queen City Commons, in partnership with the Village Green Foundation, is offering a community compost drop-off bin for Northside-area residents. For $10/month, ensure the useful energy in your food scraps is put to good work growing food with local growers! 

A Touch of TLC Home Health Care Services can help you or an elder you love avoid assisted living or a retirement home, with their non-medical care. Sometimes all you need is a touch of TLC. Call 513-580-9520 or email ATouchOfTLCHomeCare@gmail.com for your free in-home consultation.

Bhutanese Bari is our newest co-op, and has run 3 successful Saturday pop-up sales in Mount Airy. We'll continue to keep you in the loop on their work! 

Cincy Cleaning Co-op is expanding! We invite you to receive 15% off for every confirmed referral. The co-op's experienced cleaners are ready to make your house shine. Book an appointment!

Sustainergy continues to build their solar work. Combining Sustainergy's energy efficiency work with solar means YOU save money on your solar array! Call 513.244.2700 or email sustainergy@sustainergy.coop for your free energy audit today.

Our Harvest offers a convenient way to bring fresh, local food to every meal your household enjoys. Choose a small, medium or large weekly harvest box, and choose the other local foods you want to enjoy with it! 
 

There is a chance for Apple Street Market to come to life at the corner of Hamilton and Blue Rock, as part of a mixed-use development by PLK Communities. Hear the latest and help support Apple Street by joining the next Northside Community Council meeting at 7 pm on Monday, October 19! 
 

Renting Partnerships is growing. Check out Next City's feature article on their work! 
 

Events:

Co-op Cincy annual event
November 19, 2020

Stepping into the future with the Business Legacy Fund

A year after adding solar installations, Sustainergy now sees the potential to expand into another new line of business with a possible acquisition through the Business Legacy Fund.

There’s a lot going on right now - including some powerful progress in our local cooperative movement. 

But before we dive in, we want to make sure you save the date for November 19 at 7 pm, Co-op Cincy’s annual event, a futuristic celebration titled “Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2099,” inspired by the profound transformation sparked in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis in 2020. At 7 pm on  Thursday, November 19, our community of visionaries, organizers, and cooperative entrepreneurs will look “back” on the ways that Co-op Cincy accelerated the worker co-op movement between 2020 and 2099.

When 2020 brought the start of a profound transformation, Co-op Cincy accelerated our vision of eliminating barriers and creating an economy that works for all, alongside everyday people from all walks of life. 

Now we’re celebrating nearly a century of transformation, and ready to step into 2100, blessed to live in the equitable, thriving Cincinnati we all created together. 

We can start by looking “back” on the early days of the Business Legacy Fund, with these vintage news clips. Check out these old school hyperlinks to WCPO, the Cincinnati Business Courier, and Impact Alpha.

Old fashioned, pandemic-era press release is in the post below!

Business Legacy Fund Launches to Save Businesses in Southwest Ohio

Multimillion-dollar fund will bring a sale to employees within reach for retiring business owners, maintaining their legacy and saving jobs

CINCINNATI--As business owners across the region agonize over how to keep the lights on during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the wave of business owners approaching retirement consider shuttering even sooner than planned, Co-op Cincy and the Seed Commons national cooperative announce a groundbreaking program to save jobs and businesses. The Business Legacy Fund will allow retiring business owners to preserve their legacy and secure their retirement--all while saving jobs and providing a pathway to ownership for their employees. 

“The Business Legacy Fund will be a powerful tool for helping retiring business owners to save jobs, secure their retirement,” said Cincinnati City Council member Greg Landsman, “and help us create a more stable and resilient economy.” 

More than 40% of the country’s small business owners are 55 and older, and the majority of them have poured their savings into their companies (WSJ). According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 3 in 5 small businesses are now worried about having to close permanently. Small businesses account for 44 percent of all U.S. economic activity, and closures on such an immense scale could devastate the country’s economy (SBA and NYT). Even before the pandemic, only 15 percent of businesses successfully transitioned to the next generation of the family, and only 20 percent of commercial listings actually sold, with most facing liquidation and closure instead (Cooperative Development Institute).

“During these unprecedented and turbulent economic times, it is more important than ever to invest in building regional economic resilience and stability for our communities,” said Roy Messing of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University. “Our research suggests that even before the pandemic, more than 5,500 Southwest Ohio businesses were at risk of closing due to a lack of a viable succession plan. Now that risk has increased dramatically.”

Permanent closures increased by 3 percent overall in the last half of June, the highest rate so far (NYT). The situation is even more dire for business owners of color, as well as the workers and communities they support. CBS reported a 41 percent decline in Black business owners from February to April, and a 32 percent drop in Latino business owners, compared to a 17 percent decrease in white business owners. 

Responding to the risk, Co-op Cincy has partnered with the Seed Commons national financial cooperative to create a multimillion-dollar continuity fund for small and mid sized businesses. The fund, and accompanying technical assistance from Co-op Cincy, will help business owners design a viable succession plan, to transition their businesses into worker ownership. 

Worker-owned businesses boost local economies and provide greater stability to their communities and their regions because: 

• Worker-owned businesses are less likely to fail than traditional businesses

• Worker-owned businesses report higher worker satisfaction

• Worker-owned businesses pay higher wages

“Worker cooperatives are efficient businesses, and more resilient than traditional businesses,” said Flequer Vera, Co-founder of Co-op Cincy and CEO of Sustainergy Cooperative, “That’s why Sustainergy was highlighted in a national article about the resilience of worker co-ops during the pandemic. Every community should have a foundation of  worker-owned businesses to create a base level of economic stability for the region and its workers.”

Interested business owners should apply by November 15 for the inaugural cohort. Successful applicants will receive technical assistance valued at up to $20,000. The team will assess the feasibility of an acquisition, followed by a gradual transition to worker ownership, to be aided by seasoned managers. Participating companies will then be considered for the fund’s financing program to help them transition to worker ownership. 

Applications for the 2021 cohort are due November 15, and available at BusinessLegacyFund.org. 

The Business Legacy Fund is actively seeking locally-owned companies to apply for the first round of funding, which will become available in 2021. Through a sophisticated combination of financing and technical assistance, the Business Legacy Fund will help Southwest Ohio’s retiring business owners preserve their legacy and ensure their retirement, by selling their business to their employees. The fund is expected to stabilize jobs and economic conditions in our communities. 

Co-op Cincy is a non-profit cooperative business incubator that creates an economy that works for all. Since 2011, Co-op Cincy has worked with groups of entrepreneurs, organizations and retiring business owners to create and sustain worker- and community-owned cooperative businesses. 

Seed Commons is a national cooperative network of locally-rooted, non-extractive loan funds with assets of over $15M that brings the power of big finance under community control. Co-op Cincy joined the Seed Commons in 2017 and has since leveraged over $215,000 in local and national financing for four local cooperative businesses--impacting more than 30 workers with average wages more than twice the minimum wage. Partnering on the Business Legacy Fund is expected to further strengthen and stabilize Southwest Ohio. 

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Sustainergy!

Speaking from the site of one of Sustainergy’s solar installation projects, Flequer Vera says we think of worker co-ops as being good for the community (and they are!). But that worker co-ops are also very efficient businesses. Sustainergy’s strategy of pairing energy-efficient insulation with solar installs also means savings for their clients, because they can purchase a smaller solar array! Efficiency abounds. Check it out.

Renting Partnerships!

Carol Smith explains Renting Partnerships’ innovative model, which stabilizes rent AND helps residents build wealth at the same time. Potential residents have started meeting to organize a second building - located right next door to their first property!

Queen City Commons!

Queen City Commons is bringing composting service to both residential and commercial clients, along with a healthy dose of respect for the Co-op Cincy ecosystem. Listen to Queen City founder Marie Hopkins talk about the deep respect between individuals in all of our co-ops.

Cincy Cleaning Cooperative

Araceli Ortiz was working in social services when she realized that the biggest need in her community was good, stable jobs. Now a group of experienced cleaners has formed the Cincy Cleaning Co-op, and they’re expanding to new neighborhoods! 

The NEW statewide network we’re building with the Ohio Employee Ownership Center and Co-op Dayton will make it easier for this to happen around the state. Please vote for us to hire a statewide organizer here!

Our Harvest Cooperative

Our Harvest Cooperative has been sustaining worker-owners like Food Hub Coordinator Zeke Coleman for the last 8 years, and now they’re mentoring new workers from Cincinnati, Bhutan and Nepal. 

Help us grow more co-ops like this across our state, in partnership with Co-op Dayton and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. Vote ➡️g.co/OhioChallenge

Careshare Childcare Cooperative

Our Ohio cooperatives help people to shape the world they want to see. CareShare Cooperative is a prime example. CareShare co-founder Ellen Vera is speaking to members of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives and the New Economy Coalition about this exciting co-op model this afternoon. 

We’re also creating a statewide network, with the deep expertise of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center and Co-op Dayton! 

A touch of TLC Homecare Cooperative

“In the 3 months since we started working with Co-op Cincy, we've made more progress than we did in the last year and a half on our own.” 

-- Victoria Russell, worker-owner at A Touch of TLC

Check out the powerhouse women of our newest worker co-op, A Touch of TLC Home Health Care.

Check out our 2019 annual report

A Touch of TLC Home Health Care Services

We're happy to introduce Cincinnati's newest worker co-op! 

Co-founder Victoria Russel says, "I'm launching a worker-owned home care co-op with four of my friends. Co-op Cincy's help has been invaluable. In the three months since we started working with Co-op Cincy, we've made more progress than we had in the last year and a half on our own. The co-op model of shared risk and reward, and shared ownership, just makes sense to us. It's how we tended to do things even before we knew what co-ops were." 

Excitingly, their first client is one of Co-op Cincy's co-founders, Phil Almadon, who continues to skillfully navigate Parkinson's disease. Phil says, "One of the most important things about taking care of someone with a disability is respecting who the person is outside of the disability. In my case, how I was before I became disabled. Victoria has a real clear picture of what a respectful connection is. She has been helpful to me and very respectful of who I am. I'm grateful for the help. She helps me keep my apartment clean and caught up. She makes my life easier. I don't trip as often. I would heartily recommend A Touch of TLC." 

Call 513-580-9520 or email ATouchOfTLCHealthCare@gmail.com for your free in-home consultation.

Deep breath

Dear Co-op Cincy Community,

This is going to be another newsletter that’s a little different than our normal format. We promise to get back to sharing updates about the amazing work our co-ops are doing—including pivots to address COVID-19—soon.
 
For now, we need to pause to respect not just our deep, deep pain, but also the incredible organizing happening in the Movement for Black Lives all over the country, and especially in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died at the hands of the police.
 
We also believe very strongly that the organizers in this movement have opened up an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss, and we want to heed their urgent calls to action. In just one week, we saw four major victories in the fight for Justice for George Floyd: the arrest of police officer Derek Chauvin, the removal of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and assignment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to the case, yesterday’s vote by the Minneapolis Public Schools to cut their contract with the Minneapolis Police Department, and yesterday’s announcement that AG Ellison is elevating the charges and holding all four officers accountable.

In the coming weeks, we have an opportunity to channel our collective rage and heartbreak into real, tangible change, with lasting impact for years to come. That’s why we’re putting our usual newsletter on pause—and pieces of our usual work, as well.  
 
We know that many of you are doing the same.
 
If you can create any more space in your day, in your evening, or in your heart, to support the Movement for Black Lives, please do.
If you can push yourself to make phone calls, donations or take risks you haven’t before, please do. It is inspiring to see that several leading organizations in Minneapolis have started redirecting donations to other organizations, to build out a robust ecosystem. You can find the latest updates to this list at bit.ly/fundthecommunity.
 
Late last week, Minneapolis NAACP President Leslie Redmond said, “What you’re witnessing in Minnesota is something that’s been a long time coming. I can’t tell you how many governors I’ve sat down with, how many mayors we’ve sat down with. And we’ve warned them that you keep murdering black people, the city will burn. We have stopped the city from burning numerous times, and we are not responsible for it burning now.”
 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explained further in his L.A. Times op-ed, “Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge.” To say the fires hurt the Movement for Black Lives, Abdul-Jabbar says, “You’re not wrong—but you’re not right, either.”
 
But it wasn’t long at all before long-time activists for Black Lives, like Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley started reporting from the ground that violence and arson was being committed much more widely by white supremacists.
 
Minneapolis residents quickly banded together to organize community-driven fire response teams, and organized all-night watches on the level of their neighborhood, their block and their house or apartment building. This while also organizing the massive outpouring of donations of food and diapers all across the city—where residents don’t have access to grocery stores at this time. And continuing to show up and show out in the streets. The movement in Minneapolis is an incredible show of solidarity, intersectionality, interconnectedness and community care. This is part of the vision we have for our networked community of co-ops in Cincinnati, and for co-op networks around the country.
 
For more up-to-date information and calls to action from Minneapolis, you can follow the Black Visions Collective on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. For national calls to action, follow the Movement for Black Lives. Here in Cincinnati, we suggest looking to the leadership of organizations like the NAACP, the Community Economic Advancement Initiative (CEAI) and donating to organizations like Mortar, which is building out an ecosystem of black-owned businesses. If you work in philanthropy, you may be inspired by the ways Rodney Foxworth of Common Future is leveraging his experience as a black man in the U.S. to develop a radically different way to resource our communities. If you don’t find a way to tap in there, you can check out this long-term, broad list of steps for white allies, written a few years ago. Some of these are relevant for all of us. Another opportunity is to take action for meaningful police reform in partnership with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 400 organizations. 

For now, we’ll leave you with this 2015 vision poem, a true gift to us all, from Minneapolis author, artist and activist Junauda Petrus-Nasah.
 
--Mari Mancini,
Director of Communications and Strategy at Co-op Cincy
with the support of all the hearts and minds on the team
 

Could we please give the police departments
to the grandmothers ?!!!
The elders, healers, lovers and sweeteners? 
Poem by Junauda
 
Could we please give the police departments to the grandmothers? Give them the salaries and the pensions and the city vehicles, but make them a fleet of vintage corvettes, jaguars and cadillacs, with white leather interior. Diamond in the back, sunroof top and digging the scene with the gangsta lean.
 
Let the cars be badass!
 
You would hear the old school jams like Patti Labelle, Anita Baker and Al Green. You would hear Sweet Honey in the Rock harmonizing on “We who believe in freedom will not rest” bumping out the speakers.
 
And they got the booming system.
 
If you up to mischief, they will pick you up swiftly in their sweet ride and look at you until you catch shame and look down at your lap. She asks you if you are hungry and you say “yes” and of course you are. She got a crown of dreadlocks and on the dashboard you see brown faces like yours, shea buttered and loved up.
 
And there are no precincts.
 
Just love temples, that got spaces to meditate and eat delicious food. Mangoes, blueberries, nectarines, cornbread, peas and rice, fried plantain, fufu, yams, greens, okra, pecan pie, salad and lemonade.
 
Things that make your mouth water and soul arrive.
 
All the hungry bellies know warmth, all the children expect love. The grandmas help you with homework, practice yoga with you and teach you how to make jambalaya and coconut cake. From scratch.
 
When your sleepy she will start humming and rub your back while you drift off. A song that she used to have the record of when she was your age. She remembers how it felt like to be you and be young and not know the world that good. Grandma is a sacred child herself, who just circled the sun enough times into the ripeness of her cronehood.
 
She wants your life to be sweeter.
 
When you are wildin’ out because your heart is broke or you don’t have what you need the grandmas take your hand and lead you to their gardens. You can lay down amongst the flowers. Her grasses, roses, dahlias, irises, lilies, collards, kale, eggplants, blackberries. She wants you know that you are safe and protected, universal limitless, sacred, sensual, divine and free.
Grandma is the original warrior, wild since birth, comfortable in loving fiercely. She has fought so that you don’t have to, not in the same ways at least.
 
So give the police departments to the grandmas, they are fearless, classy and actualized. Blossomed from love. They wear what they want and say what they please.
 
Believe that.
 
There wouldn’t be noise citations when the grandmas ride through our streets, blasting Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Alice Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, KRS-One. All that good music. The kids gonna hula hoop to it and sell her lemonade made from heirloom pink lemons and maple syrup. The car is solar powered and carbon footprint-less, the grandmas designed the technology themselves.
 
At night they park the cars in a circle so all can sit in them with the sun roofs down, and look at the stars, talk about astrological signs, what to plant tomorrow based on the moon’s mood and help you memorize Audre Lorde and James Baldwin quotes. She always looks you in the eye and acknowledges the light in you with no hesitation or fear. And grandma loves you fiercely forever.
 
She sees the pain in our bravado, the confusion in our anger, the depth behind our coldness. Grandma know what oppression has done to our souls and is gonna change it one love temple at a time. She has no fear.