ESSENTIALS
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UJIMA ESSENTIALS
2023 — ANNUAL REPORT
2023 — ANNUAL REPORT
2023 was a banner year for the Ujima Project. We continued to grow our team, welcoming two new staff members, Alula Hunsen and Kamaria Weemz, along with a new intern, Joshua Croom and publications fellow, Mark A. Hernandez-Motaghy.
We announced a new partnership with Black Market Nubian to create a programming hub in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, evolving out of the Hyperlocal Procurement Initiative, which allows Ujima the opportunity to engage in direct procurement of goods and services from Ujima Good Business Alliance members. As part of the Hyperlocal program, we also supported the Live Like a Local Tour’s signature Martha’s Vineyard Black Business Tour.
Over the year, we held two assemblies: All About Love: Community Care Systems in April and the Assembly of Black Possibilities in October. All About Love centered the wealth of community-led care and mutual aid offerings, collectives, organizations, and practices that build new worlds in alignment with visions for the future. The Assembly of Black Possibilities was Ujima’s first translocal (national) assembly, which brought together organizers from Boston and around the country for a series of engaging panel discussions, workshops, and interactive sessions, focused on exploring key topics essential to building thriving economies.
We hosted over 80 events, including 30 Ujima Wednesdays programs, which featured speakers such as the Kola Nut Collaborative, PublicAssistants, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, and Ismatu Gwendolyn, among many others.
Our Arts & Cultural Organizing programming expanded. We hosted musician Ahya Simone at Other Worlds and launched a Juneteenth program in partnership with the ICA/Boston, featuring live music, a vendor fair, a UGBA-themed food hall, and a film series—all set against the backdrop of Simone Leigh’s iconic Venice Biennale presentation, which made its U.S. premiere in Boston. We welcomed our first-ever artist-in-residence, Adam Davis, who led a compelling series of tin-type portrait sessions with community members over two weeks in June and October 2023 as part of the Boston presentation of Black Magic. After two years of development, we published Fortunately, a post-capitalist lifestyle magazine dedicated to exploring arts, culture and solidarity economies.
The Ujima Fund held its first-ever Town Hall, an opportunity for members to better understand and deeply engage the Fund's latest investments and strategy updates. The Fund also hosted its inaugural Business & Investor Relations gathering, providing an opportunity for UGBA members to connect with accredited investors seeking to invest in and support local economies.
For more information on the Ujima Fund, read our 2023 Investor Reports: Spring, Summer and Fall.
We announced a new partnership with Black Market Nubian to create a programming hub in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, evolving out of the Hyperlocal Procurement Initiative, which allows Ujima the opportunity to engage in direct procurement of goods and services from Ujima Good Business Alliance members. As part of the Hyperlocal program, we also supported the Live Like a Local Tour’s signature Martha’s Vineyard Black Business Tour.
Over the year, we held two assemblies: All About Love: Community Care Systems in April and the Assembly of Black Possibilities in October. All About Love centered the wealth of community-led care and mutual aid offerings, collectives, organizations, and practices that build new worlds in alignment with visions for the future. The Assembly of Black Possibilities was Ujima’s first translocal (national) assembly, which brought together organizers from Boston and around the country for a series of engaging panel discussions, workshops, and interactive sessions, focused on exploring key topics essential to building thriving economies.
We hosted over 80 events, including 30 Ujima Wednesdays programs, which featured speakers such as the Kola Nut Collaborative, PublicAssistants, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, and Ismatu Gwendolyn, among many others.
Our Arts & Cultural Organizing programming expanded. We hosted musician Ahya Simone at Other Worlds and launched a Juneteenth program in partnership with the ICA/Boston, featuring live music, a vendor fair, a UGBA-themed food hall, and a film series—all set against the backdrop of Simone Leigh’s iconic Venice Biennale presentation, which made its U.S. premiere in Boston. We welcomed our first-ever artist-in-residence, Adam Davis, who led a compelling series of tin-type portrait sessions with community members over two weeks in June and October 2023 as part of the Boston presentation of Black Magic. After two years of development, we published Fortunately, a post-capitalist lifestyle magazine dedicated to exploring arts, culture and solidarity economies.
The Ujima Fund held its first-ever Town Hall, an opportunity for members to better understand and deeply engage the Fund's latest investments and strategy updates. The Fund also hosted its inaugural Business & Investor Relations gathering, providing an opportunity for UGBA members to connect with accredited investors seeking to invest in and support local economies.
For more information on the Ujima Fund, read our 2023 Investor Reports: Spring, Summer and Fall.
