Building Power in a Frontline Community: The Cooperation Jackson Model

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Notes

1 The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s website is https://mxgm.org/

2 Cooperation Jackson describes its mission at: http://www.cooperationjackson.org/

3 See Kali Akuno, “The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Black Self-Determination and Economic Democracy.” https://www.scribd.com/doc/218031046/The-Jackson-Kush-Plan. Akuno explains that the project draws on the history of black cooperatives and related civil rights initiatives by drawing on the examples of people like Fanie Lou Hamer, 2014.

4 Chokwe Lumumba (1947–2014) was elected Mayor of Jackson, MS, in 2013 running as an underdog who was overwhelmingly outspent. See Chris Kromm, “Remembering Chokwe Lumumba” in Facing South. February 28, 2014. http://www.southernstudies.org/2014/02/remembering-chokwe-lumumba.html.

5 The Scotts sisters were notoriously sentenced to double life sentences for an alleged robbery of $11.00. They served 16 years in prison before Lumumba was able to help in securing their release. See the “Gallery of the Scott Sisters Release” Jackson Advocate. http://www.jacksonadvocateonline.com/gallery-of-scott-sisters-release/. For background on their case, see Bob Herbert, “So Utterly Inhuman” in New York Times. October 12, 2010.

6 For more background on the gentrification of West Jackson, see Laura Flanders, “After Death of Radical Mayor, Mississippi's Capital Wrestles with His Economic Vision” in Yes Magazine. April 1, 2014. http://www.yesmagazine.org/commonomics/mississippi-capital-jackson-wrestles-economic-vision

7 Cooperation Jackson sees zero-waste recycling as part of a package; its “Sustainable Communities Initiative” is described on the organization's website: http://www.cooperationjackson.org/sustainable-communities-initiative/

8 On May 19, 2016, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, an attorney and the son of the late mayor announced his candidacy for Mayor. The speech indicated Lumumba's interest in building on the “foundations laid by the late Chokwe Lumumba.” The themes focused on reclaiming the city's authority over key infrastructure including the airport and water infrastructure, while addressing a city budget that has left employees furloughed. See “Lumumba Outlines Jackson Mayoral Campaign.” Clarion Legder, May 19, 2016: http://www.clarionledger.com/videos/news/local/2016/05/19/84620796/

9 The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement describes the People's Assembly as “a mass gathering of people organized and assembled to address essential social issues and/or questions pertinent to a community.” See “People's Assembly's Overview: The Jackson People's Assembly Model.” <https://mxgm.org/peoples-assemblys-overview-the-jackson-peoples-assembly-model/>