View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** Economy Remix: Advancing Community Land Ownership in Black Los Angeles
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Welcome to the Remix. This time, our economics neighborhood spin takes us to the story of Downtown Crenshaw Rising and the ([link removed]) Liberty Community Land Trust in Los Angeles ([link removed]) .

Four years ago, Downtown Crenshaw Rising made national news. A group of community activists had connected with philanthropy, impact investors, architects, and other technical assistance providers to put together a $115 million bid to acquire the 40-plus-acre site of the Crenshaw Mall, located in the city’s leading Black commercial center—and retool it to support worker co-ops, two grocery stores, a hydroponic farm, affordable housing, community space, and more. Echoing the post-emancipation call for “40 acres and a mule,” Los Angeles activists sought “40 acres and a mall.”

Even though the Downtown Crenshaw group outbid the $111 million offered by Harridge, an established Los Angeles real estate developer, the seller chose Harridge. A lawsuit challenging the sale to Harridge remains in the courts.

But even amid a pending lawsuit, community building continues as well, with the group pivoting to develop a scattered-site community land trust (CLT). In the last four years, the CLT has acquired 14 buildings which provide 129 units of permanently affordable housing. And more community building is under way, such as the development of a co-op incubator to support the creation of a network of worker co-op businesses.

For this article, I interviewed Damien Goodmon. Goodmon is a cofounder of both Downtown Crenshaw Rising and the Liberty Community Land Trust, both of which are part of a broader Liberty Ecosystem. The name “Liberty” is a callback to the first Black-owned bank in Los Angeles, which operated in the city from 1924 until 1961.

In the interview, Goodmon offers rich detail of what it takes to build a solidarity economy on the ground. There have been many steps along the way—from organizing for a transit line to employ local residents to current efforts to build out the Liberty Ecosystem. The real work of solidarity economy is often far from glamorous.

Goodmon notes that the group has spent 25 years “building connections, building a network of organizations, identifying technical expertise, building community trust.” To have a tall tree, Goodmon emphasizes, “you need to have deep roots.”

So, as you read this column ([link removed]) , I encourage you to consider what lessons you take from this story—and how to apply these lessons in your community.

Until the next Remix column, I remain

Your Remix Man:

Steve Dubb
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fnpqmag%2Feconomy-remix-16104435 Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fnpqmag%2Feconomy-remix-16104435)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
Sponsored Content
Lead with Strategic Fundraising Data ([link removed])
Track the metrics that matter and turn reports into strategy.
Download the free guide >> ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
** ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
Copyright © 2025 The Nonprofit Quarterly, All rights reserved.
You received this email because you are subscribed to the <i>Nonprofit Quarterly</i>'s Newswire. You either opted in on our website or subscribed to our print magazine.

Our mailing address is:
The Nonprofit Quarterly
PO Box 961749
Boston, MA 02196-1749
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])