Cooperation Racine first launched South Side Flea in 2024, as an effort among artists, community members, entrepreneurs and small business owners on the South Side of Chicago to revitalize Englewood, foster business growth, and promote joy and the arts among community members.
South Side Flea promotes community wealth by uplifting Englewood and South Side-based businesses, while inviting community members to become patrons of local businesses, participate in the arts through public art projects, and learn about cooperative economies as a form of community wealth building through teach-ins.
South Side Flea event photography by Lyric Newbern
We believe that anchoring the arts ecosystem in the solidarity economy through cooperative economics is one of many ways to rewrite a history of redlining, divestment, and violence that has left communities of color, such as Englewood, devoid of opportunity and prosperity.
