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


  • The Responsibility to Protect? Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity in the U.S.
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Responsibility to Protect? Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity in the U.S.
    24 Jun 2020
    The US committed crimes against humanity by creating the conditions that led to sickness and death for vulnerable sectors of the U.S. population
  • Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, 1964—2020
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, 1964—2020
    24 Jun 2020
    Burundi is Africa’s Syria and Venezuela, a developing nation that dared to defy US dictates under Nkurunziza’s leadership.
  • Notes on the Coloniality of Peace
    Nelson Maldonado-Torres 
    Notes on the Coloniality of Peace
    24 Jun 2020
    The “peace” our enemies want is mounted on brutal war and in its continuation in modern/colonial law and order.
  • Who’s a Worker? (for Leo, Clarence, Jack, Trent and ILWU Local 10 Brothers and Sisters)
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Who’s a Worker? (for Leo, Clarence, Jack, Trent and ILWU Local 10 Brothers and Sisters)
    24 Jun 2020
    I’ve prepped produce; bagged bread;  stocked shelves; pulled products for- ward on shelves of several stores. So I bring nothing but love for frontline 
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    24 Jun 2020
    This week community control of police, rage in protests, and the black political class were on your minds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us