https://znetwork.org/author/damonorion/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:21:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/damonorion/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-worker-owned-news-outlets-are-changing-the-media-industry/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-worker-owned-news-outlets-are-changing-the-media-industry/#respond Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:21:20 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1281736 The arrival of COVID-19 in the United States kicked off an ongoing period of job insecurity within the media industry. In April 2020, the New York Times reported that about 37,000 news company employees had been laid off, furloughed, or had their salaries reduced since March of that year. This instability was still evident in 2024, with [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-worker-owned-news-outlets-are-changing-the-media-industry/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/participatory-budgeting-includes-community-members-in-the-public-funding-process/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/participatory-budgeting-includes-community-members-in-the-public-funding-process/#respond Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:47:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280980 In 1989, one-third of the inhabitants of Porto Alegre, Brazil, lived in impoverished regions on the fringes of the city, cut off from sanitation, clean water, medical facilities, and other essential resources. In response, the Brazilian Workers’ Party created participatory budgeting (PB), a citizen engagement process that enables community members to decide how to use a portion of public funds. A [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/participatory-budgeting-includes-community-members-in-the-public-funding-process/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-clinic-in-chicago-offers-free-legal-aid-to-solidarity-economy-groups/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-clinic-in-chicago-offers-free-legal-aid-to-solidarity-economy-groups/#respond Thu, 06 Feb 2025 16:45:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1279368 Chicago, Illinois, has a rich history of grassroots organizing. Notable examples are the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council’s efforts to improve local economic and social conditions and the Black Panther Party’s establishment of housing cooperatives and free food, clothing, and medical services. The solidarity economy movement has continued to gain momentum in Chicago. In 2024, a map [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-clinic-in-chicago-offers-free-legal-aid-to-solidarity-economy-groups/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-community-collaborative-in-arkansas-is-pioneering-solutions-to-long-standing-social-problems/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-community-collaborative-in-arkansas-is-pioneering-solutions-to-long-standing-social-problems/#respond Fri, 03 Jan 2025 15:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277950 Redlining, exclusionary zoning, and predatory lending schemes have put prospective Black homeowners at a severe disadvantage. As the Ballard Center for Social Impact points out, the gap in homeownership rates between Black and white families was larger in 2019 than in the 1960s. In 2023, the National Association of Realtors reported a nearly 29 percent [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-community-collaborative-in-arkansas-is-pioneering-solutions-to-long-standing-social-problems/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-chicago-community-envisions-a-world-without-prisons-and-police/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-chicago-community-envisions-a-world-without-prisons-and-police/#respond Thu, 21 Nov 2024 16:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1275731 Often referred to as the most segregated city in the U.S. by media outlets like WBEZ Chicago and 14East, Chicago, Illinois, is riddled with redlining and racial profiling. A May 2024 report by a team of United Nations experts outlined a history of racist police brutality in the Chicago area, while a 2019 New York University School of Medicine study found that Chicagoans in the predominantly [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-chicago-community-envisions-a-world-without-prisons-and-police/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/grassroots-organizations-are-helping-rebuild-north-carolina-communities-after-hurricane-helene/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/grassroots-organizations-are-helping-rebuild-north-carolina-communities-after-hurricane-helene/#respond Sat, 09 Nov 2024 14:23:52 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1275078 Hurricane Helene, which was a Category 4 hurricane, hit on September 26 and claimed around 227 lives as of October 5, 2024. The hurricane is now considered one of the deadliest “of the modern era.” Besides destroying homes, businesses, roads, and bridges, it caused power outages for millions and left countless survivors without food and water. The hurricane has become [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/grassroots-organizations-are-helping-rebuild-north-carolina-communities-after-hurricane-helene/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/montanas-first-worker-cooperative-is-in-it-for-the-long-haul/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/montanas-first-worker-cooperative-is-in-it-for-the-long-haul/#respond Thu, 31 Oct 2024 18:05:42 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1274559 Worker cooperatives—businesses owned and democratically managed by their employees—have shown high rates of economic stability, employee retention, and productivity. A 2019 report from the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) and the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) noted that “mature worker cooperatives” that were operational for six to 10 years in the U.S. had [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/montanas-first-worker-cooperative-is-in-it-for-the-long-haul/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-circular-economy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-circular-economy/#respond Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:45:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272597 Between 1942 and 1964, migrant Mexican farm and railroad workers labored for low and often delayed pay under the U.S. Government’s Bracero Program. According to the 2023 paper “The Bracero Program and the Exploitability of Migrant Workers,” this program “operated by instilling fear and uncertainty among these people,” using threats of deportation and wage retention to control and exploit [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-circular-economy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/recycling-the-discarded/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/recycling-the-discarded/#respond Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272259 The stigma of a criminal conviction can be a major barrier to community reentry for recently released prisoners. A December 2021 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics highlighted the employment barrier faced by the more than 50,000 who were incarcerated, with 33 percent of them being unable to find any employment “over four years” [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/recycling-the-discarded/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/home-improvement/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/home-improvement/#respond Sat, 17 Aug 2024 18:20:01 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1270964 In 1969, a group of civil rights activists in Southwest Georgia came to the aid of Black sharecroppers who had been dispossessed of their homes and jobs for registering to vote. According to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group the Brookings Institution, these activists, who formed the collective New Communities Inc., “help[ed] Black farmers overcome the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/home-improvement/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/community-in-motion/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/community-in-motion/#respond Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:47:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1270262 Bicycles have been linked to independence since their invention in the early 19th century. European women were largely expected to stay home before that, traveling only under supervision. Through the self-sovereignty and freedom of mobility that cycling brought, they were afforded greater involvement in community, politics, and commerce. As the National Women’s History Museum’s website states, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/community-in-motion/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/little-free-librarys-not-so-little-commitment-to-getting-the-word-out/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/little-free-librarys-not-so-little-commitment-to-getting-the-word-out/#respond Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:17:29 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1269853 You’ve seen them in front of houses and public spaces like food stores, parks, schoolyards, and coffee shops; small, birdhouse-like cases that anyone can take a book from or leave a book in for others to enjoy. These miniature libraries might have an unimposing appearance but are a powerful means of boosting literacy rates, combating [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/little-free-librarys-not-so-little-commitment-to-getting-the-word-out/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-humanity-repair-its-relationship-with-nature-weaving-earth-education-center-offers-a-promising-path/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-humanity-repair-its-relationship-with-nature-weaving-earth-education-center-offers-a-promising-path/#respond Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1269724 Disconnection from nature is a catalyst for the present environmental crisis and several physical, mental, and emotional illnesses. With mental health challenges on the rise in the U.S. and climate change on the brink of becoming irreversible, there is an urgent need for educators who can help restore our sense of connection with nature. That’s [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-humanity-repair-its-relationship-with-nature-weaving-earth-education-center-offers-a-promising-path/feed/ 0