Ujima Wrapped: 2025 at Ujima

As we close out 2025, Boston Ujima Project reflects on an incredible year of milestones, growth, and community-building efforts that have strengthened our commitment to economic justice. From our Assembly of Black Possibilities in Chicago, to welcoming new UGBA businesses and Translocal Members, this year has been transformative.

Power, Transformation, and Miracles: Ujima Power Project

Ujima introduced Ujima Power Project in 2025, a year-long exploration of the tension and nuances that power inspires, posing questions about the metaphorical, political, and social dimensions of power. The program included workshops on topics like power in action, direct action, building power with women and nonbinary people.

Home School: Ujima Collective Real Estate Fund

Home School, launched in January 2025, is a collaborative learning and fund design space focused on rethinking real estate financing and management. The group brings together members to share knowledge, build practical skills, and collectively develop approaches to community-controlled land and property. Over seven months, members drew from lectures by Adriana Abizadeh, Dave Madan, James Jennings, Miriam Gee, and Noni Session and contributed to shaping the vision and early framework of the Ujima Collective Real Estate Fund.

People’s Salon

In May, the Coalitions, Policy & Grassroots Organizing (CPGO) team hosted our second People’s Salon, an afternoon of food, fellowship, and dialogue on food justice, land, and community power. Participants shared meals, stories, and strategies, creating space to ask: What kind of world are we hungry for?

Investment Decisions: Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust

In June 2025, Ujima Voting Members had the opportunity to vote on a $300,000 investment in Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust, a Community Land Trust that is building an equitable Boston through permanently affordable, community controlled housing. The investment was approved on June 10, 2025, with overwhelming support from members, reflecting their commitment to shaping the future of community land trusts and supporting businesses aligned with Ujima's values. Read more here.

We Create the World: A Juneteenth Celebration

On June 19, 2025, over 5,000 people gathered across Boston to celebrate We Create the World, our annual Juneteenth celebration at the Seaport and Beacon Hill. In partnership with ICA/Boston and the Museum of African American History, the celebration featured a Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony, performances, hands-on workshops, zine-making, and more from local Black vendors celebrating the holiday.

Microlearning Pods: Arts & Culture

Ujima hosted several engaging micro-learning pods focused on arts and culture, each with a unique theme and facilitated by community members:

• The Portal: Between The Everyday and The Sacred: Photographer and artist Tyahra Symone Angus explored the relationship between contemporary art-making and the sacred in everyday life.

• Sacred Fragments: Artist Amira Sheikh explored personal and collective stories through mixed-media collage and clay.

• Black Joy Archive: Designer Zoe Pulley nvited us to convene to share, ideate and map ideologies in times of uncertainty.

• All Power to the People: Block Printing & Collage Workshop: Inspired by the legacy of Emory Douglas, Elizabeth Catlett and other Black political printmakers, printmaker Joanna Booth taught us how to make our own collage artworks.

  
  

Managing Director of the Ujima Fund: Julia Parker

Julia Parker was appointed Managing Director of the Ujima Fund at The Boston Ujima Project. She leads Ujima’s Fund Management Team, expanding access to capital for Black and Brown communities and supporting BIPOC enterprises through debt and equity financing.

Member Arts Committee

This year, Ujima launched the Member Arts Committee, a new community-led body within the Ujima General Assembly. This committee serves as a critical space for feedback and collective decision-making, ensuring that Ujima’s arts and cultural organizing priorities remain firmly aligned with our value.

The Assembly of Black Possibilities

In September, we hosted the Assembly of Black Possibilities in Chicago, bringing together artists, organizers, entrepreneurs, scholars, and neighbors for three days of study, strategy, and imagination. Participants explored new ways of building and sustaining infrastructures for Black life, drawing on ancestral knowledge, mutual aid, cooperatives, and cultural practices to create life-affirming systems rooted in justice and shared power.

Welcoming New UGBA Members

Ujima Good Business Alliance (UGBA) welcomed new members committed to advancing social and economic justice through sustainable business practices:

• PureSpark: A mental wellness organization founded by Nieisha Deed, dedicated to providing accessible, culturally grounded support and resources for Black women.

• Nubian Markets: A market, café, and gathering space in Roxbury created by Ismail Samad and Yusuf Yassin, celebrating the African diaspora through bold, culturally rooted food and community.

• Park 54 Restaurant & Lounge: A Hyde Park restaurant and gathering space inspired by the legacy of the 54th Regiment, offering great food, music, and culture in a welcoming home for community and self-expression.

• Fabwright: A Black-owned Dorchester millwork and digital fabrication studio founded by Jemuel Stephenson, creating design-forward custom builds for community, commercial, and residential spaces.

• Boston While Black: A community driven network for Black professionals and creatives, offering connection, discovery, and belonging through a members-only digital platform and citywide engagement.

Welcoming New Translocal Members

Ujima Translocal Membership welcomed new members committed to building economic democracy ecosystems through partnerships:

• The Big We: An organization building economic, political, and narrative power through storytelling, creative placemaking, and strategic community investments.

• The Guild: A BIPOC-led worker co-op focused on community-led real estate development, co-living, and entrepreneurial support while creating pathways to property ownership.

Ujima Cafe: A Year of Connection

Ujima Cafe continued with a series of pop-up events in Roxbury and Dorchester, creating spaces for members and staff to connect while supporting local businesses like Nubian Markets, Fresh Food Generation and Dorchester Food Co-Op. Highlights included arts activations, hands on workshop from Dorchester Art Project, treats from Fresh Food Generation, and discussions on co-op membership.

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Looking Ahead

As we reflect on 2025, we are deeply grateful for the efforts of our volunteers, photographers, local businesses, and partners who helped make this year possible. A special thank you to our voting members and community participants for your ongoing engagement and commitment. We look forward to building on these achievements in 2026 as we continue to strengthen our vision of a just and equitable economy for all.

See you next year!