On March 8th, over 70 people packed the Aaronson Auditorium at Tulsa’s Downtown Central Library for a General Assembly organized by Cooperation Tulsa and four allied organizations. The central question: “How do we build power for the people?”

The turnout exceeded all expectations. The auditorium was full, the energy was high, and the conversation was real.

Who Was There

The assembly was co-organized by five horizontal organizations, each bringing their own community and focus areas to the table:

  • Cooperation Tulsa — food sovereignty, popular education, and mutual aid
  • Tulsa Equity Alliance — community advocacy and equity work
  • Scissortail Anarchist Black Cross — prisoner support and abolition
  • Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (FREE) — economic justice and community assemblies
  • We Protect Us — community defense and safety

Cooperation Tulsa tabled at the event alongside these groups, connecting attendees with information about our ongoing projects at Flat Rock Community Garden, upcoming popular education sessions, and ways to get involved.

What We Discussed

The assembly was structured around the community question: How do we build people power? The discussion was robust and wide-ranging, covering:

  • Food sovereignty — growing our own food and breaking dependence on corporate food systems
  • Mutual aid networks — building infrastructure for community care, medical support, and resource sharing
  • Popular education — learning together outside institutional frameworks
  • Community defense — keeping each other safe on our own terms
  • Land re-commoning — reclaiming land for community use
  • Prisoner support — solidarity with incarcerated community members
  • Worker cooperatives — building democratic workplaces

The discussion produced concrete next steps that organizations and individuals committed to carrying forward.

What Comes Next

The energy from the General Assembly didn’t end when the event did. FREE held an assembly that same evening, and the connections made between organizations and community members are already producing new collaborations.

For Cooperation Tulsa, this assembly reinforced what we already know: the appetite for alternatives is real, and the community is ready to build. Over 70 people showed up on a Sunday afternoon to talk about building power outside the systems that have failed us.

If you missed this one, don’t worry, this is just the beginning. Check our events page for upcoming gatherings, or get involved with any of our ongoing projects. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.