The Black CommonsA Framework for Recognition, Reconciliation, Reparations

Agyeman and Boone situate the Black Commons in the context of Sen’s (2009) concept of capabilities which we see as the need for Black communities to build new kinds of wealth and wellbeing that support our ability to thrive. We discuss definitions of growth, wealth, and wellbeing, arguing for a reclamation of the idea of “Commonwealth” as a way of enabling human capabilities. We review historic precedents to the Black Commons including Black and Black-serving Cooperatives and Community Land Trusts and argue that they offer a foundation for sharing the values of mutual aid together with information sharing and building community sustainability. Thus, we argue, pooling individual resources into a common resource, a commons, was a strategy deployed by Black communities in the USA historically. The Black Commons has been promoted in the USA as a means of dismantling barriers to Black land ownership through the networked use of Community Land Trusts, and the creation of a just and regenerative economy (Witt 2018).We apply these ideas to equitable strategies for overcoming current racial justice challenges including the need for recognition of previous harms done, reconciliation with affected groups, and eventually reparations to compensate Black communities seeking to be made whole and sustainable.