In the early 1970s, anti-war activists in Minneapolis and St Paul had founded more than two dozen natural food co-operatives, which were owned and operated almost entirely by volunteer members. Former co-op members Craig Cox and David Gutknecht describe the growth of food co-ops as an attempt to enact ideals of mutual aid and other cooperative principles. Members of the hippie counter-culture and the anti-war movement in the Twin Cities were inspired by the desire to "feed the people" and perhaps by some knowledge of other food co-ops in the United States. Although the connections were mostly unexplored at the time, the food co-op movement can be traced in part back to both the Rochdale movement in England and the history of economic cooperation in the African American community. Political differences arose between those who were influenced by the ideas of the counter-culture and anarchism, and more orthodox "communists." The second group argued that the co-operatives should sell processed food products, white sugar, and canned goods. They argued that selling cheaper goods would make co-ops more accessible to the working class, and would allow them to better deliver a message of revolution to those they felt were most in need of it. Other co-op members argued that part of furthering their ideals was selling better-quality food than was typically sold in grocery stores at the time. By the mid-70s, some of those calling themselves communists had formed a group known as the Cooperative Organization, or C.O. The group had developed through secretive study groups. They argued that the "middle-class hippies" pushing for organic food in co-op stores did not understand the plight of the working class, and that the co-op community was too disorganized and dominated by middle-class elites to lead the sustained struggle against racism, capitalism, and imperialism that the C.O. felt was necessary. The group had members in many of the co-ops around town, and their membership was strongest at the People's Warehouse and at the Beanery.
In late 1975, the C.O. took over the People's Warehouse. Firstly the C.O. attempted to negotiate control at a board meeting. When this failed they walked into the financial offices at the Warehouse and grabbed the checkbook and financial records. Other co-op members attempted to negotiate with the C.O. and were met with violence. Co-op member Phill Baker, who was part of the board meeting, described C.O. members attacking them with iron bars and ripping the phones from the walls. The next morning the C.O. announced, "The People's Warehouse now belongs to the people!" After this meeting there was a clear divide between the two sides. The C.O. used various tactics to take control of other co-ops, including further violence. On January 9, 1976, C.O. members entered the Seward Cooop and attacked worker-owners Kris Olsen and Leo Cashman, beating them and throwing them out of the store. Such actions appalled many in the co-op community, who organized a boycott of C.O.-run businesses. A non-C.O. distribution warehouse was set up called DANCE. The C.O.'s leader Theophilus Smith criticized Black Panther Mo Burton and used bullying tactics. This led Burton's supporters to physically retaliate. These events led to a decline of the C.O., as the People's Warehouse and other businesses reverted to non-C.O. control.
After the co-op wars (late 1970s-present)
Though they had suffered a defeat in the co-op wars, the C.O. persisted into the late '70s and early '80s. Now known simply as "The O," they became a highly secretive group of about 30 members. Members were known by code names and organized in disconnected cells in order to throw off the FBI, and were expected to unquestioningly follow directives from elusive leader, Theophilus has described being ordered to enter into a "P.R." with one of her follow O members, with the aim of getting pregnant. It is unknown whether remnants of the O still survive, due to its policy of near-total secrecy. Members were not allowed to talk to non-members, and were given very limited information about others in the organization. Stein mentions ten people in her social circle who left the O in 1991; presumably it still existed at that time.
Characteristics
The group was characterized by an extreme form of secrecy. Members used code names, and instructions were communicated by memos. The secrecy was such that many members had never met, or could not even name, group leader Theophilus Smith. Some members were under the impression that the group was related to the Black Panthers or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or was part of a nationwide group. At one point members received no orders for a year, with no explanation given at the time or afterwards. During that year Smith was in jail in Chicago, serving time for manslaughter in the killing of a popular black DJ who had been living in one of the properties Smith owned in North Minneapolis. Sociology professor and specialist on cults Janja Lalich stated that the O, "with its clandestine structure, charismatic leader and all-controlling environment", was a cult. However some former members have disagreed. Former member Bob Malles described being in the O as a "bizarre and painful experience". However he describes it not as a cult, but as a failed social experiment which "blew up in the lab, so to speak, flinging the research staff far and wide."
