Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.
  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
After Winning the Election Do We Govern the Place or Transform It? Kali Akuno on the Lessons of Jackson MS So Far
Bruce A. Dixon, BAR managing editor
26 Oct 2017
🖨️ Print Article

This is a hasty and cleaned up version of Kali Akuno's remarks at the Movement School for Revolutionaries, which was hosted by Cooperation Jackson in Jackson Mississippi on October 21, 2017. My apologies for the previous less accessible version and for this one too. Haven't edited video in a long while. Will do better next time, I promise.

Among much else, Akuno summarizes the long history of struggle, including electoral struggle to which Jackson MS and Cooperation Jackson are heirs. He outlines the factors behind Cooperation Jackson's break with City Hall in Jackson and with the Democratic party. He examines the problems encountered by left movements which win elections in this neoliberal era -- can the limited powers of local government be harnessed to transform the economy and peoples lives, or are local officials merely rubber stamps and friendly faces for the forces of austerity, perpetual war and privatization. Akuno also touches upon the connection between local and global politics, and frankly assesses the prospects of human, economic and social transformation from the front lines of Jackson Mississippi.

Cooperation Jackson

Related Podcasts

Cooperation Jackson's Kali Akuno: Elections Don’t Necessarily Change a Damn Thing
Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
Cooperation Jackson's Kali Akuno: Elections Don’t Necessarily Change a Damn Thing
06 December 2017
A key strategist among the Black radicals that were behind the election of two Black mayors in Jackson, Mississippi, says his fellow activists have
Coope ra tion Jackson: Reclaiming Democracy and Building a Solidarity Economy in Mississippi and Beyond
This Is Hell
Cooperation Jackson: Reclaiming Democracy and Building a Solidarity Economy in Mississippi and Beyond
01 November 2017
Kali Akuno and Ajamu Nangwaya discuss building a solidarity economy at Cooperation Jack

More Stories

  • BAR Book Forum: “Black Study and Abolition”
    Anima Adjepong
    BAR Book Forum: “Black Study and Abolition”
    29 Jul 2020
    The lesson is to remain woke, because not all abolitionists share the goal of Black liberation.
  • BAR Book Forum: Erika Edwards’s “Hiding in Plain Sight”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Erika Edwards’s “Hiding in Plain Sight”
    29 Jul 2020
    Anti-blackness manifests as black invisibility in Argentina, a society that was determined to marginalize and discriminate against Black women. 
  • “This is the Scene of a Crime”: An African Artist/Activist Journey, Part II 
    Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnist
    “This is the Scene of a Crime”: An African Artist/Activist Journey, Part II 
    29 Jul 2020
    An interview with Dr. Karen Wilson- Ama’Echefu.
  • Oh Boya: If It’s Goya, It Has To Be No Good
    Will Guzman
    Oh Boya: If It’s Goya, It Has To Be No Good
    29 Jul 2020
    Goya’s CEO thinks Trump is a “blessing,” so the brand has been cursed with a boycott. 
  • The Poor People’s Economic and Human Right Campaign: a Case for How Change Works
    Belinda Davis
    The Poor People’s Economic and Human Right Campaign: a Case for How Change Works
    29 Jul 2020
    With no well-financed publicity department and no links to the machinery of big party politics, movements like PPEHRC can sometimes seem lost in plain sight.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us