Black Humboldt Assumes Leadership of Cooperation Humboldt in Historic Reparations-Based Transition
Dear Beloved Community,
We write to you with deep gratitude, vision, and boldness to announce a profound transformation that reflects both a local reckoning and a national call for repair, justice, and liberation. Black Humboldt has officially stepped into the governance and leadership of Cooperation Humboldt—a transfer rooted in a powerful process of reparations and strategic solidarity.
This transition is not simply an administrative change; it is a revolutionary act.
It is a declaration that Black- and Brown-led movements must be centered in the struggle for economic democracy, cultural sovereignty, and systemic healing. It reflects a historic shift of power, resources, and accountability from predominantly white-led nonprofit models to Black and Indigenous leadership—right here on California’s North Coast.
From Strategic Pause to Liberation
For nearly two years, Cooperation Humboldt undertook a strategic hiatus to reflect on its structure, legacy, and long-term impact. Out of this pause emerged a community-driven process—rooted in humility and vision—that resulted in the transfer of the organization’s nonprofit infrastructure to Black Humboldt. This included the 501(c)(3) status, key financial and material resources, and the trust to reimagine the future.
Guided by the leadership of our community partners and inspired by the legacy of Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi, we embrace this transition as part of a larger Black radical tradition that calls for a liberated future built by us and for us—a future where equity is not just a value but a lived practice.
A Reparations Framework in Action
This transition was made possible through a reparations process initiated by Pathways of Purpose and endorsed by the final transition board of Cooperation Humboldt. It represents one of the few documented nonprofit reparations efforts of its kind—an intentional, public, and transparent transfer of power to Black and Indigenous stewardship.
We honor the leaders and organizations who supported this courageous path. We especially lift up the words from the request letter by Pathways of Purpose:
“This request for direct reparations is timely and more than appropriate based on the history of Humboldt County and Cooperation Humboldt. Black Humboldt is well poised and ready to immediately take the reins... to benefit Black, Brown, Indigenous, and 2S/LGBTQIA+ people of Humboldt County and Northern California.”
The Impact Ahead: Locally, Regionally, Nationally
This shift isn’t just about Humboldt County. It sets precedent. It models what it means to transfer not just symbolic leadership, but material power. It speaks to the need for a national reckoning in the nonprofit sector and beyond—a shift where reparations are not theoretical, but actualized.
Locally, it enables us to expand the work of The Solidarity Hub, a new center for collaboration, fiscal sponsorship, mutual aid, and strategic development for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Queer-led initiatives.
Regionally, it strengthens Black Humboldt and our strategic partner’s capacity to engage across the North Coast in Mendocino, Del Norte, Trinity, and Lake counties—bringing culturally-rooted leadership to spaces often disconnected from Black and Brown realities.
Statewide and nationally, it echoes the calls for systemic repair and offers a tangible model for what structural transformation can look like when communities listen deeply, act bravely, and walk in solidarity.
What Comes Next
We are building, dreaming, and grounding ourselves in collective leadership. You’ll soon hear more about the Solidarity Hub, youth development programs, new partnerships, and ways to plug in, fund, and amplify this work.
We thank the former board and members of Cooperation Humboldt for choosing transformation over rebranding—and for standing in solidarity with the movements that center racial justice, reparations, and liberation.
To our wider community—this is your call-in. Walk with us.
Let this moment mark not just the end of one chapter, but the beginning of a more liberated, just, and joyful future—for Black Humboldt and for all of us.
With love and power,
The Black Humboldt Team