[News] Countering the Confederate ‘Spring’: the Assault on Black Political Power in Jackson, MS
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Thu Mar 3 18:00:03 EST 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
*http://navigatingthestorm.blogspot.com/2016/03/countering-confederate-spring-assault.html*
*Countering the Confederate ‘Spring’: the Assault on Black Political
Power in Jackson, MS *
The racist and utterly reactionary Republican legislative majorities
that dominate the South are on an aggressive march this legislative
session. From Texas to Florida, Arkansas to Virginia, and all the states
in-between, they are employing cut-throat strategies and tactics to pass
a package of regressive, exploitative and outright anti-human
legislation drawn up by the likes of ALEC (the American Legislative
Exchange Council)[1]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn1> and
other right-wing think tanks. They are attacking the right to vote,
Black voting districts, the right to education, access to housing,
workers rights to organize themselves, wage protections, alternative
energy plans, marriage equality, and the list goes on.
While reactionary legislative initiatives are nothing new to the South,
the moves being made in 2016 are rather exceptional. In many respects,
the Republican initiatives of 2016 are reminiscent of their “Redeemer”
predecessors from the Democratic Party from the 1890’s, when they
systematically replaced all of the reconstruction based constitutions of
the Southern states and formally instituted legally based “Jim Crow”
regimes[2]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn2>.This reactionary
assault is being driven by desperation in part. The settlers that form
the base of the Republic Party are utterly terrified by the demographic
trends projected for the US over the next 50 years[3]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn3>.
They are scared of the day when the US is no longer a “white man’s
country” that it will translate into the end of their social dominance
and “way of life.” These reactionary initiatives are therefore maneuvers
of position in preparation for long-term trouble, a “battening down the
hatches” as it were, to secure their social rule and ability to exploit
and oppress non-white people for as long as possible.
This assault is also part national election-year theater and the
culmination of the brazenly racist backlash agenda against the
Presidency of Barack Obama and what it represents in the minds of
millions of settlers, which is the demise and decay of their
“indispensable empire.”[4]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn4>
They are determined to rollback and defeat the political and social
gains attained for and by working people and oppressed communities
during the Obama administration (most of which it did not author or
actually support), like the Affordable Health Care Act, the Supreme
Courts recognition of marriage equality, the repeal of various draconian
drug laws, the challenges to containment policies like “stop and frisk”,
the movement to remove Confederate symbols, and the rise of the Movement
for Black Lives.
The Republican legislative delegation in Mississippi is doing everything
it can to be the standard bearer of this reactionary agenda. Despite
that fact that Mississippi continues to have the most Black elected
officials in any of the settler states, the state legislature is
dominated by a white Republican supermajority, which unfortunately can
and is legislating what it wills, however unconscionable, inhumane and
undemocratic. Here is just a taste of what they have proposed and done
since the start of 2016 legislative session. They have suspended
“personal privilege” rules that allowed legislators to question
legislation (HR39), they have eliminated the only Black supreme court
district in the state (HB868), they are proposing to eliminate dozens of
Black schools throughout the state (SB2494), to further punish
struggling school districts with less funding (HB14), they are seeking
to expand Charter Schools throughout the state (see SB216 and HB1044),
they are allowing state workers and religious institutions to
discriminate against LGBTQI individuals and communities (HB1523), are
determining the gender identity of individuals based on their phenotypes
(HB1523), are declaring that sex is only legal in heterosexual marriages
(HB1523), and requiring transgender people to travel with apartheid-like
papers to utilize public restroom facilities (HB1258). And this is just
a glimpse of the madness. There are also bills attacking Planned
Parenthood, initiatives that place more roadblocks in the path of
parolees to reenter society, and efforts to create harsher prison
sentences for more non-violent criminal offenses.
Some of the most strategic initiatives being pursued by the Republican
legislature this session aim at weakening the Black political and
economic power vested in Mississippi’s capital and largest city,
Jackson. Jackson became a majority Black city in the 1980’s. It elected
its first Black mayor, Harvey Johnson, in 1997. Since the late 80’s and
early 90’s Jackson’s Black community has been struggling to translate
its numeric and electoral strength into economic power for the benefit
of the vast majority of city’s working class people. This struggle took
a radical turn in 2013 when Jackson elected the “most revolutionary
Mayor in the United States”, noted revolutionary organizer and human
rights attorney, Chokwe Lumumba[5]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn5>.
Chokwe was elected in part to institute a program of economic democracy
based on cooperative economics and participatory governance[6]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn6>.
The Jackson Plan that Chokwe struggled to implement challenged white
economic hegemony in Jackson and temporarily halted initiative on some
of their major gentrification plans, like Vision 2022, the One Lake
proposal, etc.[7]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn7>
Chokwe’s Mayoralship demonstrated the real potential of Black political
power translating into economic power. It was this potential that the
reactionary political and economic forces that dominate the capitol and
the state resolved themselves to never let occur again. These
reactionary forces are seeking to destroy the potential of Black
socio-economic power in Jackson by dismantling the city and seizing
control over its strategic assets, assets that are a lifeline for the
city and the potential basis for its self-determined redevelopment and
revitalization.
*/Seizing Jackson’s Airports /*
One set of targets is the city’s airports. Senate Bill 2162, proposed by
Republican Senator John Harkin from Flowood, calls for the elimination
of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA), which is currently
appointed by the Mayor of Jackson and confirmed by the City Council. The
Bill calls for the Jackson controlled JMAA to be replaced by a new
Jackson /Metropolitan/ Airport Authority that would be primarily
controlled by the Governor and commissioners from Rankin and Madison
counties (Jackson is primarily situated in Hinds County, but it has
incorporated parts in other counties, i.e. the Evers Airport which it
owns is in Rankin County and Tougaloo College and adjacent lands which
are situated in Madison County)[8]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn8>.
This takeover initiative is about weakening Black political power,
ensuring ongoing white control over the city’s resources, and the
acquisition of strategic property. Jackson has been in possession of two
airport facilities since the early 1960’s, Hawkins Field and the Jackson
Medgar Wiley Evers Airports. Jackson’s authority over these facilities
was never questioned until the Mayoral administration of Chokwe Lumumba.
During Chokwe’s short tenure as Mayor, from July 1^st , 2013 through
February 25^th , 2014, he was able to install an entirely new, all
Black, JMAA Board. In January 2015 the JMAA Board hired the airports
first Black Chief Executive Officer, Carl Newman. Under the leadership
of Mr. Newman and the JMAA Board, the airport became a fully solvent ,
“in the black” entity and redirected the majority of its contracts to
contractors who live in Jackson, the majority of whom are Black[9]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn9>.
Prior to this shift, the airport was often in the red and the vast
majority of the contracts that were awarded by the airport were awarded
to contractors from Rankin and Madison counties, the overwhelming
majority of whom were white. It was this loss of income, and the
projected loss of future profit, that prompted Senator Harkin and the
Republican leadership to advance the takeover initiative.
The original airport facility, Hawkins Field, constitutes some of the
most prime real estate in the city because of its proximity to and
potential interrelationship with the Medical Corridor Expansion
Project[10]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn10>.
The Medical Corridor Expansion Project is an expansive project that
extends the existing medical corridor from its present boundaries
between the 55 interstate to the east and State Street to the west, all
the way to the 220 metro Freeway on the western outskirts of the city
and an expanse from Northside Drive to the north and Fortification
Street to the south. The Medical Corridor Expansion Project is the
adopted child of former Governor Haley Barbour with the support of the
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and the Greater Jackson Chamber of
Commerce.
The Medical Corridor Expansion Project is the driving force of real
estate speculation in Jackson, which is beginning to fuel the
gentrification and displacement of several Black working class
communities. This project will basically devour the Black working class
communities of West and Central Jackson, particularly the Mid-City,
Georgetown, and Virden Addition communities.The Medical Corridor
Expansion Project is modeled in large part on the Medical Expansion
Project in New Orleans, which is actively in the process of displacing
tens of thousands of Black working class residents. If the Republicans
are able to seize Hawkins Field they will be able to control its
redevelopment process in connection with the Medical Corridor Expansion
process. This will create an extended zone of redevelopment that will be
dictated and controlled almost entirely by economic and political forces
outside of Jackson. They will control the contracts, the procurement
processes, and the hiring processes. This will ensure that the lion’s
share of the profits and wages generated from these developments will go
to white bankers, developers, sub-contractors, and suppliers to the
detriment of the City of Jackson and its predominantly Black working
class residents.
The Jackson Medgar Wiley Evers Airport was built by the City of Jackson
in 1963 - 64[11]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn11>.
The airport sits squarely in Rankin County, which is a predominantly
white working class community that is a direct outgrowth of white flight
from Jackson. For decades, white contractors from Rankin and Madison
counties have dominated the airports contract awards.
The interruption of this gravy train is what fueled the ire of these
forces. But, what has the Republicans up in arms is the threat of
missing out on the future profits projected to be generated over the
next several decades from the growth and expansion of Medgar Wiley Evers
Airport. Over the last two years, several transnational companies have
decided to open new manufacturing plants in Jackson and Hinds County.
The two largest manufacturers are Seraphim Solar, a Chinese owned solar
company, and Continental Tire the Americas, LLC[12]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn12>.
Building on these new developments, most regional business forecasts
anticipate further business and economic growth in the central
Mississippi region, as each of these businesses will facilitate the
growth of spin off businesses, like resource suppliers and service
providers. Economic growth means more business for the Evers Airport
(both airports actually, as Hawkins will accommodate more executive and
light freight transport for these and other businesses), which will
facilitate and sustain the growth of more goods and services that can be
situated at the airport, which has ample room to expand. The white
capital interests that presently dominate the economy of the region are
determined to retain their control over all the capital accumulating
processes that define the local political economy. In order to do so,
they have to strip Jackson of its political control over the airport and
other strategic assets, as these assets could be used to facilitate
Black economic equity, which would foster the end of Black exploitation
in the city and region.
*/The Trojan Horse: the Capitol Complex Improvement District /*
An initiative just as threatening to Black political power in Jackson as
the seizure of its airports is the /Capitol Complex Improvement District
Bill/, docketed as Senate Bill 2525 (and its House companion, House Bill
1564)[13]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn13>.
Senator John Horhn, a Black Democrat who represents a part of Jackson
located in the 26th Senate District, allegedly introduced this bill
according to many local political lobbyists and insiders as a
sacrificial trade to the Republicans to save the city’s airports. The
logic behind such a tactic is that because the Republicans possess a
supermajority in both houses, and can basically legislate what they
want, the Black legislative delegation and the Democratic party overall
must play ball with them and surrender various concessions to the
Republicans in order to defend old gains and some fundamental rights,
like the right to vote.
It must be said that not only is this logic extremely faulty, it is
premised on the internalization of white supremacy. This logic accepts
the notion that Black people cannot “develop” their own communities,
that they must rely on white people and resources controlled by white
people to improve the conditions in their communities and their lives.
Regardless of the logic, what this initiative will effectively do is
surrender more territory and control over to the Governor, the
Republican party, white economic forces, and ultra-conservative social
forces who will try to legislatively enforce their morals onto the
predominantly Black working class residents of Jackson. If passed,
SB2525 will take a large swath of the most valuable real estate in the
city of Jackson stretching from Jackson State University through the
Downtown Area and connecting to the Medical Corridor Expansion Project,
and put it under the direct authority of the Governor via a newly
created Improvement District Board that he or she would appoint. This
Board, not the Mayor or the City Council, will manage and administer
this project and control all of its finances.
To add insult to injury, this Bill would “/divert 12-1.5% of the total
sales tax revenue collected on business activities within the city of
Jackson and to distribute 15% of the revenue so collected to the city of
Jackson to compensate the city for general police and fire protection
provided by the city in the capitol complex improvement district/”, and
“../to provide that the remainder of such revenue so collected shall be
deposited into the capitol complex improvement district project fund/.”
This is critical because Jackson has been struggling to get the Governor
and State Legislator to pay for the police and fire services they have
utilized for decades basically free of charge. This would now create a
special zone of protection that will be paid by the residents of
Jackson, who will have no democratic say so over this District!
Because of how stealthily this Bill was introduced, with little to no
fanfare and initial opposition, and how it innocently appears to be
offering to improve conditions in Jackson, it is a real Trojan Horse. If
it is not defeated this Bill will basically hand over all the “keys to
the kingdom”, that are the fundamental drivers of Jackson’s economy –
the medical, administrative, and educational industries that are
situated in this improvement district. Further, most of this new
“/Republican Zone/” will not be taxable by the City of Jackson, which
will only exasperate the financial crisis of the city, which has been
struggling with a declining tax base for decades.
Other drastic consequences of the Capitol Complex Improvement District
Bill is that it will assuredly drive property taxes through the roof,
foster more repressive policing to protect the new investments, rapidly
gentrify large sections of West and Central Jackson, and displace tens
of thousands of Black working class residents. This will reduce the
city’s Black population, which will undermine Black political power, and
ultimately threaten the economic viability of the municipality.
*/“Flint”, Mississippi /*
On Tuesday, February 2^nd , former Secretary of State and Democratic
Party presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton put Jackson, MS in the
national spotlight by issuing a statement of concern about lead levels
detected in the city’s water supply by Mississippi State health
officials[14]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn14>.
Suddenly, Jackson’s water woes were put on par with those of Flint,
Michigan - and rightfully so. Jackson’s poor water quality is legendary
in the region. Because of antiquated lead pipes our water is perennially
brown, water main breaks are near daily occurrences, and the city
government is forced to issue dozens of “boil water” notices each
month[15]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn15>.
Like Flint, Michigan, Jackson’s water woes stem from environmental
racism, capital flight, and the ruthless application of neo-liberal
policies. Jackson’s water system has been recommended for a thorough
overhaul since the late 1980’s. The white political leadership that
guided the city in the 1970’s and 80’s sat on the issue, and sometimes
blatantly refused to address it, as the forces of white capital made it
clear that they would not pay for the improvement of a rapidly growing
Black polity. Since Jackson became a majority Black city in the 1980’s,
it has struggled to figure out how to overhaul the city’s crumbling
infrastructure with the limited revenues it possessed as a direct result
of a declining tax base, which largely evaporated as result of white
flight and all of the capital transferred with their relocation to the
suburbs.
The Black administrations that have governed Jackson since 1997 stalled
on dealing with the water crisis for as long as they could. That day
came to an end in 2012, when the city of Jackson, under the Mayoralship
of Harvey Johnson, entered into a consent decree agreement with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to overhaul its water filtration,
processing, and delivery system, specifically to eliminate waste water
overflows and untreated raw sewage entering the system[16]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn16>.
The City of Jackson was given 18 years to fully comply, but mandated
that the vast majority of the work must be completed within 11 years of
signing the agreement, which in practical terms means that the city has
until 2023 to reverse the situation or else.
The City of Jackson has been struggling with how to resolve the consent
decree and the water crisis since it signed this agreement. The most
pressing concern has been how to pay for repairs mandated by the consent
decree. The solution that was reluctantly adopted by the Mayoral
administration of Chokwe Lumumba in 2014 was to adopt the 1% Sales Tax
measure originally put forward by Senator John Horhn. The Lumumba
administration was reluctant to adopt the 1% sales tax because the
resources it generated were not controlled by the city of Jackson, but
by a specially constructed oversight board that was dominated by the
Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Party (via seats
reserved for the Governor and Lt. Governor). In an attempt to try and
challenge this imposition, the Lumumba administration held a public
referendum on the question of its adoption, which passed by roughly 94%
of the vote[17]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn17>.
The purpose of the vote was to “let the people decide” directly, and to
build a base of public support to eventually revoke the undemocratic
board that was affixed to the legislation.
The fundamental issue at play with Jackson’s water crisis is control.
Jackson provides water to most of the suburban municipalities
surrounding the city. The tax revenues generated from its water delivery
provision account for a staggering 40% of the city’s overall
revenues[18]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn18>.
This has made it a primary target of regional capital interests seeking
to either takeover or siphon off some of these resources. If the city of
Jackson doesn’t resolve its water woes, the Federal government will be
forced to intervene in a forceful manner, which is exactly what many of
the local reactionary forces desire. The Republicans have crafted a slew
of potential answers, and they are working on all of them simultaneously
in the hopes that one of them will succeed in extracting this life
sustaining resource from the city. One strategy is to create a regional
water utility. Another is to replace Jackson’s water treatment facility
with a new water treatment facility in a white majority municipality or
county, which is exactly what the West Rankin Utility Authority received
permission to do in 2015[19]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn19>.
Privatization is another proposal in the Republican tool kit.
The most insidious proposal put forth by the Republicans to seize
control of Jackson’s water system was advanced in 2014, called the
/Municipal Government Responsibility Act/, which was designated as House
Bill 627[20]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftn20>.
The Municipal Government Responsibility Act was a carbon copy of
Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. It was being advanced in particular to
undermine the administration of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, as Jackson was and
remains the only municipality that possesses a utility currently
threatened by the EPA and the state. HB627 explicitly called for the
state government to protect its credit and that of its municipal
subdivisions, noting that it was “a valid public purpose for the state
to take action and to assist a municipality that has failed to provide
services to the citizens of the state.” It further stated:
/“//If the Governor determines that an emergency exists, the Governor
shall assign the responsibility for managing the local government to an
emergency manager. The manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of
his or her competence and shall not have been either an elected or
appointed official or employee of the municipality. The emergency
financial manager need not be a resident of the local government for
which he or she is appointed. The emergency financial manager shall
serve at the pleasure of the Governor and shall be compensated as
determined by the Governor. The manager shall issue to the appropriate
officials or employees of the local government the orders the manager
considers necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act, including,
but not limited to, orders for the timely and satisfactory
implementation of a financial plan developed by such manager. An order
issued under this section is binding on the local officials or employees
to whom it is issued.”/
Although this Bill died in committee, it revealed some critical elements
of the strategic thinking, planning, and tactical approach of the
Republican forces relative to the city of Jackson. It was one of the
many legislative initiatives that laid the groundwork for the all out
assault we are experiencing this legislative session. And although there
are no legislative bills directly threatening Jackson’s control over its
water infrastructure, it is the “key” prize that will ultimately
determine if Jackson will retain its municipal authority and economic
viability, or whether it will become even more of an extractive colony
of Rankin and Madison counties. In this context, the timing of the lead
contaminant threat couldn’t have come at a worse time for the city, as
it bolsters the narrative that Jackson cannot govern itself, and
therefore should be put under receivership. We can rest assured that on
the basis of this news, the Republicans are going to sharpen their
knives and make the final push to seize Jackson’s water in 2017.
*/Where do we go from here? The BDS and Buy Jackson Campaigns /*
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are definitely
desperate times for Black, Indigenous, working, and immigrant
communities in Mississippi, particularly in Jackson. In the effort to
try and meet the challenge posed by the aforementioned assaults, at
least on the municipal level, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM),
Cooperation Jackson, and the Jackson Human Rights Initiative (JHRI) took
the initiative to form a broad coalition in January, called the
/Coalition for Economic Justice/.
The Coalition for Economic Justice is committed to doing everything
within its power to galvanize the Black legislative caucus, and the
greater Democratic Party delegation on a whole to defeat the
aforementioned legislative assaults. However, given the fact that the
Republicans currently possess a supermajority in the legislature we are
clear that this initiative is largely for educational purposes, as the
Republicans can pass what they will. We are not going to defeat these
reactionary legislative maneuvers on the floor of the Mississippi
legislature. We have to pursue another route to victory. The route we
believe will be the most effective is a mass, multi-faceted,
non-compliant civil disobedient movement determined to engage in a
sustained campaign of economic warfare.
/Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions/
We believe that the only way that we are going to be able to push back,
defeat, and eventually reverse these seizures is to punish the moneyed
interests situated in Rankin and Madison counties that seek to seize
Jackson’s infrastructure and control its political future. Both of these
counties are extremely vulnerable to campaigns of economic reprisal
because their economies are essentially dependent upon Jackson’s.
Virtually none of the commercial enterprises in either of these counties
can survive without patronage from the residents of Jackson. Neither
county possesses the population density necessary to sustain their
commercial and industrial enterprises on their own. They are fully
dependent upon patronage from Jackson. This fact can and must be used in
Jackson’s favor in this fight. To this end, the Coalition for Economic
Justice is calling for a massive /Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions/
(BDS) strategy to be employed against Rankin and Madison counties, and
if need be, the state itself.
The aim of the BDS campaign is to financially cripple Senator Harkin,
the Republican legislative delegation, and the regional capital forces
(financers, developers, etc.) that support them, with the objective of
having them return the assets that they are poised to seize back to the
municipality and people of Jackson. We pursue this in the following manner:
1./Boycott/. We call on all of the residents of Jackson and our allies
throughout Mississippi, the United States and the World to cease and
desist from any and all economic activities in Rankin or Madison
counties. When our airports are seized, we implore all Jacksonians and
any and everyone venturing to our city to bypass the Evers airport and
instead fly into Memphis or New Orleans and utilize one of the
cooperative transport services that we are going to construct to come to
Jackson.
2./Divestment/. We call on all of the residents of Jackson and our
allies everywhere to remove any and all capital you have invested in
banks, businesses, real estate, or other economic endeavors, such as
municipal or county bonds, from Rankin and Madison counties. We need
everyone to encourage your civic, spiritual, and economic associates and
organizations to do the same.
3./Sanctions/. We call on all of the civic and spiritual institutions
based in Jackson and throughout the country and the world to censure
Rankin and Madison counties for their support of the undemocratic
seizure of Jackson’s resources. We also call on municipalities, counties
(parishes), state and national governments to censure and sanction these
counties for their egregious violations of the fundamental human rights
of the residents of Jackson. All of these institutions should cease all
trade and civic engagement with Rankin and Madison counties until
Jackson’s resources are returned back to their rightful owners.
We encourage everyone to join the Coalition for Economic Justice in
making a public pledge to support our Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
campaign. Although, we are encouraging everyone to start engaging in
this campaign of economic warfare immediately, we are going to
officially launch the campaign on Friday, April 1^st , 2016 to counter
and contrast with Confederate History Month, which was proclaimed by
Governor Phil Bryant to let the people of the world know what’s truly
“going down” in Mississippi from the perspective of his party and
supporters. We aim to SHUT THIS MADNESS DOWN! But, we need you to join
us to make it happen. Send your pledges toinfo at coalitionjustice.org
<mailto:info at coalitionjustice.org>. You can also pledge on Facebook and
Twitter by making a public announcement that is linked to the Coalition
for Economic Justice via the Jackson People’s Assembly
athttps://www.facebook.com/JxnPeoplesAssembly/or@JXNPeoples.
/Buy Jackson!/
The Coalition for Economic Justice does not believe in creating a vacuum
and leaving it unfilled to be further exploited by our enemies. As we
are imploring people to stop shopping and engaging in any type of
economic activity in Rankin and Madison counties, we must provide the
people of Jackson with new means, methods and opportunities to address
their consumer and leisure needs. To this end, we are encouraging the
people of Jackson to make the upmost effort to secure all of their
consumption needs in Jackson.
We have to be on the offensive as much as we are on the defensive. The
offensive initiative entails seizing the moment to rebuild Jackson’s
commercial and retail economy, and to do it in a manner that will
benefit the greatest number of people economically. To this end, we need
to push for the revitalized commercial and retail base to be orientated
towards community wealth building initiatives that are cooperatively
developed and owned.
Here are some means to pursue:
1./Increase Support for Existing Businesses/.This should be based on a
criterion wherein we ask all businesses to officially endorse the BDS
campaign and to prominently display our literature and educational
materials in their businesses.We will support these businesses by
publicly listing them as supporters of the campaign and strongly
encouraging the movement’s adherents to make a special effort to support
these businesses as part of the resistance.
2./Launch new Cooperative enterprises/. Our objective is to rebuild the
city’s retail, entertainment, and hospitality industries along
cooperative lines to ensure that they anchor themselves in the community
and that they serve to create equity for the maximum number of people.
This will help facilitate the rebuilding of our city’s tax base that
will help revitalize our city’s essential services.
3.Initiate /Community Wealth Building Initiatives/ in partnership with
the City. In order for the proposed cooperative enterprises to work they
will need support from the city. In the effort to help itself and its
constituents the city should be encouraged to utilize its existing
resources and assets to support cooperative enterprises by providing
free or discounted office space, pooling financial resources, and
facilitating collective purchasing policies of essential goods, etc.,
that would support the development of a genuine social and solidarity
economy in Jackson.
The Buy Jackson and BDS campaigns must be viewed as two sides of the
same coin. The people of Jackson must equally support both in order to
overcome and defeat the Republican seizure initiatives.
*/Solidarity /*
As an old African saying goes, “rice is best cooked in the pot!” The
application of this saying in the Jackson context means that if this
resistance initiative is going to work, it must be carried by a mass
movement drawing its strength directly from the working people of
Jackson. However, the people of Jackson should not and cannot wage this
fight alone. If anything, Jackson should be viewed as an example of how
reactionary forces in this society respond to radical upsurges as
occurred here in 2013 when Chokwe Lumumba was elected Mayor. Investing
time, energy and resources in the fight to save Jackson, must be viewed
investment in your own future, because if we can stop this reactionary,
racist, neo-liberal land grabbing assault here, we will build the
collective movement muscle to defeat it elsewhere.
We are asking all those interested in standing in solidarity with the
people of Jackson and the Coalition for Economic Justice to support us
in the following ways:
1./Resource Support/. This fight is going to take some considerable
resources to win. We need resources to support the organizing work
necessary to wage the BDS and Buy Jackson Campaigns. And we need
resources to build the Cooperatives and Solidarity Economy initiatives
mentioned. If you would like to support the organizing initiatives
please send a donation to */
Community Aid and Development, Inc/. Mail to P.O. Box 68426, Jackson, MS
39286*
or pay online at
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=8PEBSvx4MZG5SEiqAjRg2yqcNbNVGQ2VzLWiJO8vnHWW0vH08iGSWCMlJse&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8defcd6970d4fd9d661117ac2649af92bb
If you would like to support the cooperative development initiatives
please send a donation to */Cooperation Jackson/. Mail to P.O. Box 1932,
Jackson, MS 39215*
or pay online at
https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=547e1f1fe4b0142cf2a50b5e
2./Mobilizing Support/. The Coalition for Economic Justice will be
calling for national days of action and action caravans to come to
Jackson to support our mass mobilizations and direct actions as the
campaign develops and progresses. We want to encourage all those
interested in supporting our efforts to be alert for these action calls
and to move in formation when they are issued. To stay abreast of the
mobilization efforts follow these Facebook pages
https://www.facebook.com/JxnPeoplesAssembly/,https://www.facebook.com/MXGMnational/,
or https://www.facebook.com/CooperationJackson/.
3./Media Support/. We need this story told to the world. We encourage
progressive journalists, documentarians, and academics to use all the
communicative mediums at your disposal to share our story and help us
build a resistance movement capable of defeating this reactionary
onslaught. For narrative support and local guidance contact the Media
and Communications Committee of the Coalition for Economic Justice
atinfo at coalitionjustice.org <mailto:info at coalitionjustice.org>.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref1>See
https://www.alec.org/.
[2]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref2>See
“The called themselves Redeemers – the Rise of White Supremacy”
https://www.americanhistoryusa.com/redeemers-rise-of-white-supremacy/.
[3]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref3>See
“US Demographic Shift will have Huge Political Impact”
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-demographic-shift-will-have-huge-political-impact/2708774.html
[4]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref4>See
“The Myth of the Indispensable Nation” by
http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/11/06/the-myth-of-the-indispensable-nation/.
[5]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref5>See
“Chokwe Lumuba: Remembering ‘America’s Most Revolutionary Mayor”
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/26/chokwe_lumumba_remembering_americas_most_revolutionary.
[6]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref6>See
“The Jackson Plan: A Struggle for Self-Determination, Participatory
Democracy and Economic Justice
https://mxgm.org/the-jackson-plan-a-struggle-for-self-determination-participatory-democracy-and-economic-justice/.
[7]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref7>See
“Vision 2022: A Regional Vision
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2013/sep/18/regional-vision/.
[8]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref8>See
https://legiscan.com/MS/bill/SB2162/2016.
<https://legiscan.com/MS/bill/SB2162/2016.>
[9]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref9>See
“Unfriendly Skies: Can Jackson Save its Airport?”
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/feb/03/unfriendly-skies-can-jackson-save-its-airport/and
“The Battle for the Jackson Airport: Can the State Take it Away?”
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2016/jan/06/battle-jackson-airport-can-state-take-it-away/.
[10]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref10>See
Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Initiatives
http://www.greaterjacksonpartnership.com/pages/HealthcareInitiatives/.
[11]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref11>See
JMAA History http://jmaa.com/jmaa-history/.
[12]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref12>See
“Seraphim Solar to build manufacturing facility in Jackson”
http://msbusiness.com/2015/07/seraphim-solar-to-build-manufacturing-facility-in-jackson-says-will-create-up-to-250-jobs/<http://msbusiness.com/2015/07/seraphim-solar-to-build-manufacturing-facility-in-jackson-says-will-create-up-to-250-jobs/>and
“Continental Tire to create 2,500 new jobs in Hinds County”
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/31169417/continental-tire-to-create-2500-new-jobs-in-hinds-county.
[13]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref13>See
https://legiscan.com/MS/bill/SB2525/2016.
[14]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref14>See
“Hillary Clinton pushes for Jackson water issues action”
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2016/02/02/hillary-clinton-pushes-action-jackson-water-issues/79689966/.
[15]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref15>See
“Residents complain of water woes throughout Jackson; city responds”
http://wjtv.com/2015/09/12/residents-complain-of-water-woes-throughout-jackson-city-responds/.
[16]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref16>See
http://www.epa.gov/enforcement/city-jackson-mississippi-clean-water-act-settlement.
[17]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref17>See
“9 in 10 Jackson, MS voters approve 1% Sales Tax”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/15/jackson-ms-sales-tax-vote/4489851/.
[18]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref18>See
“Troubled Water, Part 1: Explaining Jackson’s $91 Million Siemens
Contract”
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/mar/11/troubled-water-part-i-explaining-jacksons-91-milli/.
[19]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref19>See
“Jackson: New Rankin County Wastewater Plant is Unlawful”
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/feb/11/jackson-new-rankin-county-wastewater-plant-unlawfu/.
[20]
<https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6437626410397493374#_ftnref20>See<https://www.blogger.com/goog_522623646>http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2014/pdf/history/HB/HB0627.xml.
<https://www.blogger.com/profile/03956221719030184878><http://navigatingthestorm.blogspot.com/2016/03/countering-confederate-spring-assault.html>
--
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