Fall at Ujima Wednesdays: In Us We Trust

We’ve been taught to count our wealth in dollars while forgetting the currencies that first made us human. Perhaps democracy is not only lost through stolen votes, but through forgotten values. Join us for our fall Ujima Wednesday Workshop series, In Us We Trust, to remember and rediscover the hard currencies that shape our lives–and the holy currencies that shape our souls.

We define “holy currencies” (borrowing from Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute) as the essential, non-material resources—such as truth, time, gracious leadership, place, and relationships—that shape our souls and build the foundation of a healthy community. In contrast, we define hard currencies as the finite, external instruments—such as cash, equity, and debt—that the dominant economic system uses to measure and control value. 

Through the lens of trust, we aim to explore how we can reclaim wealth that cannot be bought or stolen, and to acclaim a wealth that cannot be bought, cannot be stolen, and only grows when it is given away. Perhaps we have been richer all along.

9.9: Talkback: In Us We Trust | RSVP

Donna Bivens, Justin Merrick & Robert "ROB." Kelley-Morgan

We begin September with a collective reflection on our Fall 2026 workshop series theme: In Us We Trust, exploring the concepts of holy and hard currencies. Through a conversation on wealth, relationships, interiority, and trust, we’ll build from our summer series on Mutual Aid and open the questions that will guide our fall workshops.

9.23: Holy Currencies and Hard Currencies | RSVP

Noni Session

Join Noni Session for a discussion on how holy currencies offer a path toward holistic stewardship (one grounded in the relationships, resources, and forms of wealth that sustain our communities) in direct contrast to the hard currencies that often depend on extraction and oppression to function. 

Together, we’ll explore how we navigate, value, and prioritize these different forms of wealth. The “Holy Currencies” framework was first introduced through the work of Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute. In this session, we place that framework in conversation with what we call hard currencies: the finite, external instruments, such as cash, equity, and debt, that the dominant economic system uses to measure, exchange, and control value.

9.30: Time and Place | RSVP

Amanda Everich

Join Amanda Everich, Community Facilitator and Education Manager for Black Farmer Fund, in a discussion on how we utilize resources, including land, when we are thinking of time and place. 

Amanda will explore the history of Black farmers’ and their ongoing existence in the USA, and  the history of the Black Farmer Fund. She will share resources, explore the process of socioemotional to concrete investments, and discuss what belonging and land stewardship looks like today. 

10.14: Truth and Wellness | RSVP

Donna Bivens

Join Donna Bivens in a discussion on wellness as a currency. We’ll reflect on what people are going through right now: the day to day attacks on people's physical wellness, including environmental disasters, and on how relief is often withheld (or misplaced),. Who actually ends up on the scene? Holistic healers...join us to learn more about how we can build a wealth of wellness together.

10.21: Talkback/Transition to Hard Currency | RSVP

Dr. Ericka Brown and Dr. Jared Ball

What are some hard truths around money? Join us for a talkback with Dr. Ericka Brown and Dr. Jared Ball on what hard currencies are and how we live, interact and navigate the world today.

Referencing Dr. Jared Ball’s The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power, and his two part Mythbusting march workshop series, Dr. Ball will revisit the myths we've picked up along the way, and why. Join us as we transition from holy currencies, and practices of bartering to hard currencies.  

Watch our March Mythbusting workshop videos here.

11.4: Monetary Trust | RSVP

Dr. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Amaha Selassie, Jamila Medley

What does it look like to have financial systems built on an idea of trust? What happens when we trust each other more, have faith in each other. It's significant even in investment, with funds and money. Monetary trust, especially in relation to trust funds, as a legal financial framework works very differently because it's entrusted, there’s a level of trust. 

What is Black Trust? When you think of investment, what underlines it really? An excavation, miseducation or re-education. The investment with trust. Objective criteria (stuff that came later) in the beginning was a thought relationship in trust. How it operates for Black people.

11.18: History of Money | RSVP

Chris Desan

Join Christine Desan, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and author of Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism, in a discussion on the history and mechanics of hard money:  how finite, external instruments like cash, equity, and debt have been used by the dominant economic system to determine  and govern value.

Stay tuned, more workshops to be announced! In the meantime check out what we've been discussing this year on our Together: Organizing for Financial Governance Power playlist on YouTube.