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


  • a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
    07 Sep 2022
    a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch “The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery” —Paul Robeson  
  • “Liberalism is counter-revolutionary”: An Interview with Kalonji Jama Changa
    Kalonji Changa , Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “Liberalism is counter-revolutionary”: An Interview with Kalonji Jama Changa
    07 Sep 2022
    Black Agenda Report Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent interviews community organizer Kalonji Changa.
  •  BAR Book Forum: Debra Thompson’s, “The Long Road Home”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Debra Thompson’s, “The Long Road Home”
    07 Sep 2022
    This week’s featured author is Debra Thompson. Thompson is the Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies and Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University.…
  • Jackson Water Crisis: A legacy of environmental racism? and Justice for Jackson: Help Us Fix Jackson's Water System
    Chi Chi Izundu, Mohamed Madi, Chelsea Bailey , Cooperation Jackson
    Jackson Water Crisis: A legacy of environmental racism? and Justice for Jackson: Help Us Fix Jackson's Water System
    07 Sep 2022
    The city of Jackson is suffering from years of neglect by the state of Mississippi. Residents of the majority Black city need a new water system, but a legacy of racism and antipathy towards their…
  • Laundering Black Rage
    Too Black
    Laundering Black Rage
    07 Sep 2022
    Rage is a natural human emotion that is denied to Black people. Black rage is dangerous and is washed away, laundered, as if it were an ill-gotten gain. Too Black explains in the first part of a two-…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us