SOLIDARITY ECONOMY
ASSEMBLY FOR OUR FUTURES
ASSEMBLY FOR OUR FUTURES
See you in Durham, NC, July 22 - July 26!
In these times, coming together to live and grow solidarity economies as a way of organizing and defending life, is critical.
We will be gathering at the WG Pearson Center – a historic community and recreation space – in Durham, North Carolina, from Wednesday afternoon, July 22nd to Saturday evening, July 26th, 2026, for four days of deepening and strategizing around our collective commitments to solidarity economies.
Rooted in Black and Indigenous praxis as the riverways to the seas of our collective liberation, this Assembly will center the knowledge, governance traditions and survival strategies that have long sustained our peoples.
Like peoples that gather in the mountains, the forests, the barrios and every territory where peoples’ assemblies rise to affirm and defend life, we will come together to listen deeply, share strategies, and weave networks of support, practicing our collective force to shape the futures that honor our earth, protect our memories, descendants, and each other.
We will be gathering at the WG Pearson Center – a historic community and recreation space – in Durham, North Carolina, from Wednesday afternoon, July 22nd to Saturday evening, July 26th, 2026, for four days of deepening and strategizing around our collective commitments to solidarity economies.
Rooted in Black and Indigenous praxis as the riverways to the seas of our collective liberation, this Assembly will center the knowledge, governance traditions and survival strategies that have long sustained our peoples.
Like peoples that gather in the mountains, the forests, the barrios and every territory where peoples’ assemblies rise to affirm and defend life, we will come together to listen deeply, share strategies, and weave networks of support, practicing our collective force to shape the futures that honor our earth, protect our memories, descendants, and each other.
Location
Durham,
North Carolina, USA
WG Pearson Center
2800 Erwin Rd, Durham, NC 27705, USA
North Carolina, USA
WG Pearson Center
2800 Erwin Rd, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Date
July 22, 2026 - July 26, 2026
What are the goals of this convening?
This Assembly is a call to amplify our collective imagination toward the many futures that become possible when solidarity is at our core. It is an intentional space to seed deeper alignment across our network and sharpen our strategy to meet this political moment. Our goals are:
- To reground and recenter our work in a solidarity economy analysis guided by Black and Indigenous liberation visions and grounded in a working-class, grassroots lens.
- To meaningfully engage our members and movement partners in shaping strategy and priorities for this political moment, and to collectively refine how we organize over the next five years at NEC, particularly through regional and place-based approaches.
- To deepen and connect solidarity economy principles in tangible ways. Through workshops offering concrete tools – from preparing communities in the face of ICE activity, to community clinics, to strengthening mutual aid infrastructure – folks will leave with practical support to bring back to their work.
- To prioritize ample space for member connection, art & cultural offerings, reflection, and share-backs, ensuring that wisdom flows across our different territories and that our strategy is shaped collectively.
What's an Assembly and why do we call this gathering an Assembly?
Assemblies are spaces where people gather to make decisions together and shape a shared path. It's a practice that's been rooted in movements in the Global South to dream pathways to liberation and practice decolonial ways of organizing and governing.
From the gatherings of the World Social Forum to the community practices and principles of Zapatistas in Chiapas, assemblies have been living spaces for movements to gain clarity, talk honestly and decide collectively how to move.
That's the spirit we're carrying with us and are bringing to Durham.
Over four days, the Solidarity Economy Assembly for our Futures will create space for active participation, feedback and meaningful connection.
While this will not be a formal Peoples Movement Assembly, it will carry that same spirit. We will have a session where together, we will reflect on three guiding questions: What problems are we facing? What are the solutions? And what are we going to do about it?
That's the spirit we're carrying with us and are bringing to Durham.
Over four days, the Solidarity Economy Assembly for our Futures will create space for active participation, feedback and meaningful connection.
While this will not be a formal Peoples Movement Assembly, it will carry that same spirit. We will have a session where together, we will reflect on three guiding questions: What problems are we facing? What are the solutions? And what are we going to do about it?
Programming
The convening will focus on the many ways solidarity economy practices can be integrated more deeply into our work. A detailed program will be released closer to the convening, stay tuned!
We’ll strengthen our analysis of Black and Indigenous solidarity frameworks as guide forces towards our movement work. We’ll ground ourselves in Durham, visiting historic Black and Indigenous spaces and connecting with local solidarity economy ecosystems. By rooting in local history, we’ll gather lessons and strategies that can travel back with us to the places where our organizing work is seeded. There will be ample space for connection and culture throughout the gathering. Each day will feature artist engagements, including local Durham artists, member artists, and Creative Wildfire artists, because we know culture sits at the heart of change! Participants will also lead participatory workshops focused on mutual aid and practical tools toward the worlds we need.
Why Durham?
We chose to gather in a historic Black neighborhood and community-centered space that reflects our values. Durham holds a rich legacy of organizing, and with strong existing NEC relationships in the city, it feels like a meaningful place for us to convene.
Over the past two years, we’ve gathered in Durham four times, with our Black Solidarity Economy Fund grantees and working group members, our Black Radical Democracy Working Group, our staff for an intensive, and also with our board. This convening builds on those roots.
North Carolina has long been home for movements. The 1960 sit-ins that gave rise to Civil Rights Movement began at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. The state is widely recognized as a birthplace of the environmental justice movement, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed here. Durham itself became a center of Black self-determination. North Carolina was home to one of the first Black-owned credit unions in the country and Durham was a center of Black financial movement.
There is a large population of indigenous people in North Carolina and many highways followed the trade routes of Indigenous peoples of the region.
The South represents a big part of the soul of our movement and has many lessons for our solidarity economy work across the U.S and the different territories around the world.
North Carolina has long been home for movements. The 1960 sit-ins that gave rise to Civil Rights Movement began at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. The state is widely recognized as a birthplace of the environmental justice movement, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed here. Durham itself became a center of Black self-determination. North Carolina was home to one of the first Black-owned credit unions in the country and Durham was a center of Black financial movement.
There is a large population of indigenous people in North Carolina and many highways followed the trade routes of Indigenous peoples of the region.
The South represents a big part of the soul of our movement and has many lessons for our solidarity economy work across the U.S and the different territories around the world.
See you in Durham!
We're so excited to convene <3