UsLiftingUs Economic Development Cooperative, Inc.

The Us Lifting Us Economic Development Cooperative (the Co-Op) is first and foremost an economic engine and catalyst to spur economic growth in the African American Community in Atlanta, Georgia, and even more importantly a critical first step in allowing African Americans to once again determine their own economic destiny, which is to say, return to the path of making their own history. This econ

omic venture must be viewed, understood and appreciated in this epochal context. The first project of the Co-Op; (Us Lifting Us Market & Exchange) is an umbrella mechanism providing basic commodities of nutritious food (fruits/vegetables) through a farmer’s market, coffee/networking café venue, value-priced clothing, body and hair care products, bulk buying opportunities as well as buying clubs, unique cultural and specialty items all accomplished through a sustainable community controlled and directed model. Even more importantly, as the global markets yaw and sway violently through boom and bust cycles taking down national economies, throwing hundreds of thousands out of work and plunging middle and working class families into financial collapse and poverty, this organization represents as do other cooperative models the economic pathway to a sustainable future. The invitation to build and develop this institution is both an opportunity and a social imperative, a calling from the future to save the species and the planet. It is a calling to position the African American Community in a leadership position to help guide the global family and point the way forward, through cooperation, mutual respect for all life and a healthy self-love and self-determination.