Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Selfdetermination in Jackson, Mississippi

by Kali Akuno (Editor), Ajamu Nangwaya (Editor)

Overview

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 this collection of essays 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.

Jackson Rising is an exploration of our experiment in radical social transformation and governance that is directly challenging the imperatives of neoliberalism and the logic and structures of the capitalist system in Jackson and beyond. 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 radical activists in Jackson, Mississippi has been to concentrate on building a radical anti-capitalist alternative from the ground up. 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 working people who are openly declaring that their political project is committed to economic democracy and radical participatory governance. Jackson is rising and emerging as a model for resistance and visioning beyond the challenges of the present. It stands as the dynamic counter to economic redundancy, political marginalization, and systematic state violence.

Jackson Rising contains contributions from well-known community activists and organizers Hakima Abbas, Kali Akuno, Ajamu Baraka Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Kamau Franklin, Sacajawea Hall, Rukia Lumumba, Ajamu Nangwaya, Max Rameau, Makani Themba, and Jazmine Walker and Elandria Williams, as well as noted journalists and academics including Sara Bernard, Carl Davidson, Bruce A. Dixon, Laura Flanders, Katie Gilbert, Jessica Gordan-Nembhard, Michael Siegel, and Bhaskar Sunkara.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780995347458
Publisher:	Daraja Press
Publication date:	11/10/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	986,740
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Kali Akuno is a co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson. Kali served as the Director of Special Projects and External Funding in the Mayoral Administration of the late Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, MS. His focus in this role was supporting cooperative development, the introduction of eco-friendly and carbon reduction methods of operation, and the promotion of human rights and international relations for the city. Kali also served as the Co-Director of the US Human Rights Network, the Executive Director of the Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) based in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. He was a co-founder of the School of Social Justice and Community Development (SSJCD), a public school serving the academic needs of low-income African American and Latino communities in Oakland, California.

Ajamu Nangwaya, PhD., 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 Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi, along with Kali Akuno.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Foreword: All Roads Lead to Jackson xi Rukia Lumumba

Part I. GROUNDINGS

1. Build and Fight: The Program and Strategy of Cooperation Jackson
   
   Kali Akuno

2. Toward Economic Democracy, Labor Self-management and Self-determination
   
   Kali Akuno & Ajamu Nangwaya

   Part II. EMERGENCE

3. The New Southern Strategy: The Politics of Self-determination in the South
   
   Kamau Franklin

4. The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Black Self-determination and Economic Democracy Kali Akuno

5. 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

6. The Jackson Rising Statement: Building the City of the Future Today

   Kali Akuno for the Mayoral Administration of Chokwe Lumumba

7. Seek Ye First the Worker Self-management Kingdom: Toward the Solidarity Economy in Jackson, MS Ajamu Nangwaya

Part III. BUILDING SUBSTANCE

1. Free the Land: An Interview with Chokwe Lumumba Bhaskar Sunkara

2. Jackson Rising: An Electoral Battle Unleashes a Merger of Black Power, the Solidarity Economy and Wider Democracy
   
   Carl Davidson

3. Jackson Rising: Black Millionaires Won’t Lift Us Up, But Cooperation and the Solidarity Economy Will Bruce A Dixon

   Part IV. CRITICAL EXAMINATIONS

4. Why the Left Should Look to Jackson, Mississippi Michael Siegel

5. The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Land and Housing

   Max Rameau

6. The City as Liberated Zone: The Promise of Jackson’s People’s Assemblies

   Makani Themba-Nixon

7. A Long and Strong History with Southern Roots Jessica Gordon Nembhard

8. The Challenge of Building Urban Cooperatives in the South

   Elandria Williams and Jazmine Walker

9. Coming Full Circle: The Intersection of Gender Justice and the Solidarity Economy
   
   Sacajawea ('Saki') Hall interviewed by Thandisizwe Chimurenga

   Part V. GOING FORWARD

10. After Death of Radical Mayor, Mississippi’s Capital Wrestles with his Economic Vision
    
    Laura Flanders

11. The Jackson Just Transition Plan: A Vision to Make Jackson a 'Sustainable City'
    
    Cooperation Jackson

12. A Green Utopia in Mississippi? Sara Bernard

13. Casting Shadows: Chokwe Lumumba and the Struggle for Racial Justice and Economic Democracy in Jackson, Mississippi
    
    Kali Akuno

14. The Socialist Experiment: A New-Society Vision in Jackson, Mississippi

    Katie Gilbert

    Part VI. AFTERWORD

15. Home Isn’t Always Where the Hatred Is: There is Hope in Mississippi

    Ajamu Baraka

16. Resist and Fight! Hakima Abbas

    About the Contributors
    
    Additional Readings and Documentation

Editorial Reviews

Jackson Rising is a recent collection of essays about the growing movement for economic democracy and Black self-determination in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. Edited by local activist, Kali Akuno, and the academic, Ajamu Nangwaya, Jackson Rising was published right at the end of last year, so it represents an up-to-the-minute account of this movement. Jackson, Mississippi, is a very poor, Black-majority city who’s population has suffered under some of the worst systemic racism in the US, but in June, 2013, a long-time Black activist and civil-rights lawyer, Chokwe Lumumba, was elected mayor, and his administration adopted a radical plan for the regeneration of Jackson that was founded in part on establishing a network of worker cooperatives in the city. https://thesocialistentrepreneur.com/2018/05/10/review-jackson-rising/

From the Publisher