With the success of Black Panther in theaters, it brings to mind the cooperative and economic benefits diversity brings to society. And the HuffingtonPost reports that audiences want more diversity from Hollywood. Considering the collaborative power of Black cooperatives specifically, I put the logo for Cooperation Jackson in this blog post. The Cooperation Jackson website has a great explanation of this logo, and a great explanation of African wisdom.

It’s worth quoting:

“In Ghana, West Africa, the Asante people use wisdom symbols known as adinkra to recall the virtues and values of traditional life. Our Cooperation Jackson logo incorporates three adinkra: At the center is Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo, or “Help me and let me help you,” the symbol of cooperation and interdependence. On the left is Nkonsonkonson, a reminder to contribute to the community, that “In unity lies strength.” Finally on the right is Wo nsa da mu a, “If your hands are in the dish, people do not eat everything and leave you nothing,” which explains the importance of participation in self-government.”

Wisdom from Africa has a lot to offer a capitalistic society. I’ve discussed this in a previous blog post “Black Co-ops Matter” about the book Collective Courage that studies the history of Black co-ops in the US.

Cooperation Jackson’s work to develop economic change and sustainability in Mississippi is now described in a new book Jackson Rising by By Ajamu Nangwaya, and Kali Akuno. See a review of the book at CounterPunch.org by Richard Moser.

As I said in a recent post, cooperation rules competition. I look forward to more developments from Jackson.