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: Liat Ben-Moshe’s “Decarcerating Disability”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Liat Ben-Moshe’s “Decarcerating Disability”
    26 Aug 2020
    Disability studies looks at disability as an identity and culture and not as a deficit to be corrected.
  • BAR Book Forum: “Black Study and Abolition”
    Hilary Malson
    BAR Book Forum: “Black Study and Abolition”
    26 Aug 2020
    The author examines literature that looks to sites of struggle to find the seeds of an alternative, more just future.
  • Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation
    Nelson Maldonado-Torres 
    Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation
    26 Aug 2020
    Racial liberalism attempts to shape the perspectives of communities of color through narrow ideas of national belonging, Manifest Destiny, and the American Dream.
  • Federal Judge Tackles Police Immunity Law
    Marjorie Cohn
    Federal Judge Tackles Police Immunity Law
    26 Aug 2020
    The Black judge listed the injustices of “qualified immunity,” which allows police and other government officials to escape liability for their law breaking.
  • COVID-19’s Toll on People of Color Is Worse Than We Knew
    The Marshall Project
    COVID-19’s Toll on People of Color Is Worse Than We Knew
    26 Aug 2020
    Some coronavirus deaths, especially early on, were mistakenly attributed to other causes.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us