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


  • Umar A Farooq
    US Elections 2024: Uncommitted Movement Splits After Taking Money From PAC Supporting Harris
    06 Nov 2024
    Volunteers started their own Uncommitted group after learning leadership took $400,000 from a PAC that doesn't support third-party presidential candidates.
  • Jake Johnston
    Haitian Government Hires US Security Contractor, but Questions Remain
    06 Nov 2024
    The United States failed to achieve its goal of a full U.N. mission in Haiti. That has not deterred U.S. puppets in that nation, as Haiti has enlisted the assistance of a security contractor with…
  • Carlyn Zwarenstein
    UN report accuses Israel of willfully destroying Gaza’s health care infrastructure
    06 Nov 2024
    Detailing Israel’s “crime of extermination,” the report makes it clear bombing hospitals is no accident.
  • Henriot Dorcent
    The Presidential Council demands the occupation of the UN!
    06 Nov 2024
    In the tradition of traitors to the nation, the current leaders have no equal, to the point that they are all calling for a new UN occupation of the country.
  • When we vote we win
    Joseph Massad
    Why even progressive US voters are America Firsters
    06 Nov 2024
    The fate of billions whom the US dominates and oppresses is effectively exchanged for a few possible reforms in domestic policies that affect parts of middle-class America
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us