Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S. with the highest percentage of Black people, a history of vicious racial terror and concurrent Black resistance is the backdrop and context for the drama captured in the collection of essays that is Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Self-Determination in Jackson Mississippi.
Undeterred by the uncertainty, anxiety and fear brought about by the steady deterioration of the neoliberal order over the last few years, the response from Black activists of Jackson, Mississippi has been to organize. Inspired by the rich history of struggle and resistance in Mississippi and committed to the vision of the Jackson-Kush Plan, these activists are building institutions rooted in community power that combine politics and economic development into an alternative model for change, while addressing real, immediate needs of the people. The experiences and analyses in this compelling collection reflect the creative power that is unleashed when political struggle is grounded by a worldview freed from the inherent contradictions and limitations of reform liberalism. As such, Jackson Rising is ultimately a story about a process that is organized and controlled by Black people who are openly declaring that their political project is committed to decolonization and socialism. And within those broad strategic and ethical objectives, Jackson Rising is also a project unapologetically committed to self-determination for people of African descent in Mississippi and the South.
Tabela de Conteúdo
Acknowledgements vii
Foreword: All Roads Lead to Jackson xi Rukia Lumumba
Part I. GROUNDINGS
Build and Fight: The Program and Strategy of Cooperation Jackson
Kali Akuno
Toward Economic Democracy, Labor Self-management and Self-determination
Kali Akuno & Ajamu Nangwaya
Part II. EMERGENCE
The New Southern Strategy: The Politics of Self-determination in the South
Kamau Franklin
The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Black Self-determination and Economic Democracy Kali Akuno
People’s Assembly Overview: The Jackson People’s Assembly Model
Kali Akuno for the New Afrikan People’s Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
The Jackson Rising Statement: Building the City of the Future Today
Kali Akuno for the Mayoral Administration of Chokwe Lumumba
Seek Ye First the Worker Self-management Kingdom: Toward the Solidarity Economy in Jackson, MS Ajamu Nangwaya
Part III. BUILDING SUBSTANCE
Free the Land: An Interview with Chokwe Lumumba Bhaskar Sunkara
Jackson Rising: An Electoral Battle Unleashes a Merger of Black Power, the Solidarity Economy and Wider Democracy
Carl Davidson
Jackson Rising: Black Millionaires Won’t Lift Us Up, But Cooperation and the Solidarity Economy Will Bruce A Dixon
Part IV. CRITICAL EXAMINATIONS
Why the Left Should Look to Jackson, Mississippi Michael Siegel
The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Land and Housing
Max Rameau
The City as Liberated Zone: The Promise of Jackson’s People’s Assemblies
Makani Themba-Nixon
A Long and Strong History with Southern Roots Jessica Gordon Nembhard
The Challenge of Building Urban Cooperatives in the South
Elandria Williams and Jazmine Walker
Coming Full Circle: The Intersection of Gender Justice and the Solidarity Economy
Sacajawea (‘Saki’) Hall interviewed by Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Part V. GOING FORWARD
After Death of Radical Mayor, Mississippi’s Capital Wrestles with his Economic Vision
Laura Flanders
The Jackson Just Transition Plan: A Vision to Make Jackson a ‘Sustainable City’
Cooperation Jackson
A Green Utopia in Mississippi? Sara Bernard
Casting Shadows: Chokwe Lumumba and the Struggle for Racial Justice and Economic Democracy in Jackson, Mississippi
Kali Akuno
The Socialist Experiment: A New-Society Vision in Jackson, Mississippi
Katie Gilbert
Part VI. AFTERWORD
Home Isn’t Always Where the Hatred Is: There is Hope in Mississippi
Ajamu Baraka
Resist and Fight! Hakima Abbas
About the Contributors
Additional Readings and Documentation
Sobre o autor
Ajamu Nangwaya, Ph D., is an educator, organizer and writer. He is a lecturer in the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Ajamu is co-editor with Dr. Michael Truscello of the recently published anthology Why Don’t The Poor Rise Up? Organizing the Twenty- First Century Resistance. He is co-editor of this volume along with Kali Akuno.