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


  • Community Control of Police is the Best Remedy
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Community Control of Police is the Best Remedy
    30 Jun 2021
    Community Control of Police is the Best Remedy Chicago leads the nation in moving towards community control of the police, with a majority of the city’s board of aldermen in favor.
  • Reparations Supporters Need to Unite Around Specific Demands
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Reparations Supporters Need to Unite Around Specific Demands
    30 Jun 2021
    Efia Nwangaza, director of the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination in Greenville, South Carolina, is trying to unite the member organizations of the South Carolina Reparations Coalition behind
  • US Acting as “Rogue State” in Shutting Down Iranian News Site
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    US Acting as “Rogue State” in Shutting Down Iranian News Site
    30 Jun 2021
    The US seizure of the Iranian news site Press TV shows that Washington “will continue to operate as a rogue state as long as it can get away with it,” said Ajamu Baraka, national o
  • The Left Lens Presents the Left Voice in Latin America w/Camila Escalante
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    The Left Lens Presents the Left Voice in Latin America w/Camila Escalante
    23 Jun 2021
    Wherever the Left has risen up in Latin America, rightwing oligarchs backed by the United States have responded with violence and political chicanery.
  • Freedom Rider: Biden, Putin and the Press
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Biden, Putin and the Press
    23 Jun 2021
    The corporate media claim that President Biden went easy on Vladimir Putin outside the G7 meeting, but that’s only because Biden preferred to sic the imperial press hounds on the Russian president
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us