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


  • Black Agenda Radio June 9, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 9, 2023
    09 Jun 2023
    In this week’s segment we will hear about the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta that challenges that city’s political leadership to end their plans for a militarized police facility, and in New Yor
  • Atlanta's Black Community Says, "Stop Cop City!"
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Atlanta's Black Community Says, "Stop Cop City!"
    09 Jun 2023
    Rev. Keyanna Jones is an Atlanta based minister and an organizer with Community Movement Builders.
  • NYPD Illegal Searches Target Communities of Color
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    NYPD Illegal Searches Target Communities of Color
    09 Jun 2023
    Samah Sisay is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
  • State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    07 Jun 2023
    Cop City is an effort to ensure that state violence will bring the most draconian methods to bear against Black people. State violence is also being used proactively, in an effort to end opposition…
  • COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    07 Jun 2023
    Remembering the anti-imperialist and Pan-Africanist politics of the late Ghanaian writer, Ama Ata Aidoo.           
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us