Greetings & Blessings Family, Friends and Beloved Community,

We are excited to announce that the Deep Co-op is traveling to the Motherland!!!!

As The DEEP grocery co-op honors the diasporic African American cooperatives and members who experienced the economic sabotage, unjust competition, and violence as well as terrorism at the hands of White supremacists (Gordon Nembhard 2018, 66), Jameelah Lane and Majal Logan will be voyaging to the ancestral lands of Benin and Togo to study traditional cooperative practices via dance as cultural engagement of Cooperative Principle #5: Education, Training, and Information. It is the mission of The DEEP to restore East Oakland’s community with fresh organic produce, community education, and cooperative economics, prioritizing the wellbeing of Black and Brown people. The significance of embarking upon this restorative cooperative journey is to specifically address the paradox of exclusivity that food co-ops face in the largely White cultural landscape of the natural foods movement (Zitcer 2014, 823) by acting as the natural, culturally appropriate response in keeping the traditions of People of Color alive.

The DEEP will be embarking upon this restoratively cooperative journey by joining with Portsha Jefferson of Rara Tou Limen on a Vodou Voyage to Benin and Togo in August 2024 to honor the ancestors, as well as learn about West African dance, culture, and the local cooperatives that produce food, wellness items, and educational services. In terms of culture and cooperation, the people of the Dahomey Kingdom or present-day Benin believed that living in a community was so important that they would try to raise their social status through markets and warring (Hossein 2019, 211). Moreover, Benin and Togo both practice traditions of tontines or money pools (Hossein 2015, 12), which The DEEP seeks to explore further through the bridging of cooperative practices and culture in DEEP East Oakland. The African diaspora holds a long standing history of cooperation, contributing to an even larger solidarity economy. By helping to build this global solidarity economy, The DEEP supports the overall self-determination of a people that is connected to an overarching goal of collective liberation.

Our predecessors, the Black Panther Party, practiced intercommunalism and began survival programs like hosting free breakfasts for children that were emulated by many communities, which The DEEP now seeks to expand upon via cultural survival programs that aim to preserve both the culinary and performance arts, so that community members can continue savoring diasporic dishes while also thriving in the areas of health and fitness. In particular, The DEEP seeks to develop curriculum by adding physical education for all ages to the Co+op Explorers program that already introduces youths to the cooperative world of fresh foods and cultures where participants even receive their own Fruits + Veggies Passport! We express our DEEPEST gratitude for those whose shoulders we stand proudly upon, as we continue to stand strong for those yet to come and experience life’s cooperative rites of passage

We, now, invite you to join The DEEP on its mission to restore, as well as reclaim our cooperative roots. There is so much to learn throughout the cooperative movement and global solidarity economy. Support DEEP East Oakland in building solidarity across the diaspora by donating to The DEEP Grocery Co-op’s Education and Outreach fund today! Your donation will help cover airfare, lodging, transportation, and visas for both countries.

About Jameelah Lane & Majal Logan

Jameelah Lane (Oakland Native, she/her) is a multi-faceted artist, alchemist, entrepreneur and community leader. Loyal to the soil; she has always been passionate about planting seeds of love and justice in her community.

With roots deeply embedded in the diverse tapestry of Oakland, Jameelah draws upon her sociological expertise to dissect societal structures and amplify the voices of the marginalized. Her artistry serves as a canvas for these narratives, vividly portraying the struggles, triumphs, and aspirations of those often overlooked. Through her work, she challenges conventional perceptions, inviting viewers to confront uncomfortable truths while embracing the beauty of diversity in the Black community.

As a community artist and activator, she fosters inclusivity, nurturing Black spaces where unity and belonging flourish. Notably, Jameelah co-founded The Deep Grocery Cooperative in the heart of East Oakland, redefining grocery shopping through sustainable and equitable practices in a marginalized neighborhood affected by food apartheid. This venture has redefined the way that Afrikan/Black communities access and interact with their food sources and cultural practices, revolutionizing the concept of grocery shopping into an experience that fosters sustainability, art, equity, and education.

Jameelah has traveled throughout the diaspora to Brazil, Cuba and Haiti. In 2022, she found her way to Igbo Land (Nigeria), tying together all of her experiences where she studied agriculture and cooperative practices in relationship to traditional spiritual practices, family customs, culture, food and different dance styles as forms of ritual and healing.

In August of 2024, Jameelah Lane will travel to Benin and Togo as she continues connecting the diasporic dots of African Culture by focusing on dance, cooperative business models, and local markets. The insights gained from this study trip will enrich her knowledge and experiences, which she plans on sharing with the community upon return. This Roots and Routes: DEEP Co-op Journey to Benin and Togo will enhance her work with the co-op and continue to nurture her blossoming into an evermore multi-faceted alchemical artist, cooperative entrepreneur and community leader.

Majal Logan (siya/niya or she/her), MBA is a doctoral candidate in the Anthropology and Social Change program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her research explores the art of resistance through the promotion of social justice in underserved communities. She is currently a wine educator at Sunset Suisun (formerly Suisun Valley Wine Co-op).

Sources

Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “African American Cooperatives and Sabotage: The Case for

Reparations.” The Journal of African American History 103, no. 1-2 (2018): 65-90.

Hossein, Caroline Shenaz. “Black Women as Cooperators: Rotating Savings and Credit

Associations (ROSCAs) in the Caribbean and Canada.” Journal of Cooperative Studies 48, no. 3 (2015): 7-18.

Hossein, Caroline Shenaz. “A Black Epistemology for the Social and Solidarity Economy: The

Black Social Economy.” The Review of Black Political Economy 46, no. 3 (2019): 209-229.

Zitcer, Andrew. “Food Co-ops and the Paradox of Exclusivity.” Antipode: A Radical Journal of

Geography 47, no. 3 (2014): 812-828.

Roots and Routes: Deep Co-op's Journey to Benin

By The DEEP Grocery Cooperative

Roots and Routes: Deep Co-op's Journey to Benin

Send Deep Co-op Members to Togo Benin to learn about co-ops and traditional dancing and ceremonial practices for healing.