Book review of Cooperation Jackson’s publication, Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, MS by Sophie Gonick. This review was issued in Public Books in the On Our Nightstands section of site. It was published on July 31, 2020.

FabxLive Fab. Symposium: Rebooting Economies

As we define the new normal, this session looks closely at how we can reboot our economies in a thoughtful and effective way, allowing us to be the enablers of the economy that we want and need.

Featuring Blair Evans, Juliet Schor, Kali Akuno, Vasilis Kostakis, and Cindy Kohtala.

Footage of Artists and Cooperators of the Community Production Cooperative 3D printing masks for Cooperation Jackson’s Community Production Masks For All Initiative from WJTV 12 News on Monday, July 27, 2020. Featuring Community Production Cooperative anchor Kwame Braxton.

Building the Solidarity Economy in the context of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

US Solidarity Economy Network Session at the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies held June 25th - July. 1st, 2020

In the US, the dual crises of COVID and racist policing are highlighting failures in our racist capitalist patriarchal economy, forcing us to create institutions that better fill our needs. Our panel will discuss grassroots solidarity economy responses - such as mutual aid networks, community gardening, bartering and time banking, and movements for community control of policing and resources - and strategize about bringing them together into a movement for systemic economic transformation. -- Moderated by Mike Strode of The Kola Nut Collaborative, this panel featured Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson, Nia K. Evans of Boston Ujima Project, and Dominique Pearson of Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance.

Cooperation Jackson members Sacajawea “Saki” Hall and Kali Akuno, feature in the People’s Strike First Strike Broadcast on Wednesday, July 1st, 2020.

People’s Strike is a growing coalition of workers, community, and political organizations confronting the COVID-19 pandemic by struggling against inept government and the forces of Wall Street to put people before profit.

Land Reform in the Pandemic

This program was organized and hosted by the US Network for Democracy in Brazil. It was conducted on July 1st, 2020 and featured Sacajawea “Saki'“ Hall and Imani Olugbala from Cooperation Jackson and Freedom Farms Cooperative.

Article from Frances Madeson about the the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU) historic Juneteenth. call to action to the Labor movement to act in defense of Black Lives. The article features Cooperation Jackson’s executive director, Kali Akuno, speaking on behalf of the organization and the People’s Strike coalition.

Article about the campaign to change the Mississippi state flag and the campaign efforts of Cooperation Jackson. This featured the Juneteenth press conference organized by Cooperation Jackson at the Balagoon Center on Friday, June 19th, 2020.

WLBT Coverage of Cooperation Jackson’s Friday, June 19th, 2020 - Juneteenth - Press Conference demanding the change of the Mississippi State flag and the removal of all of the confederate monuments in the state.

Right to the City Alliance teach in on Land and Housing under Racial Capitalism which was held on Friday, June 5, 2020 . Cooperation Jackson's own Sacajawea "Saki" Hall was featured in this discussion.

Programmatic Reflections on combining the People’s Strike and Floyd Rebellion movement moments.

Rush transcript of this segment:

Good question. I think the central thing that we should be looking out for today, is the merger of the systemic issues we've been trying to bring to the fore with the People's Strike and the call to move towards the general strike, with the mass righteous rage that has occurred because of the resistance to American apartheid so, because that's what's really at play, that's what's being brought into question, and folks recognizing you know, Floyd's death is directly linked to all of the black and brown folks who have died needlessly as a result of COVID-19, how it's been managed in the United States and that you know, that death toll is the direct result of the systemic white supremacy of this society and it's settler colonial foundations. And people linking those two right in bringing more systemic energy towards a long protracted campaign of moving towards a general strike, I think that is what we are trying to bring to the fore and convincing folks that we need to use the greatest power that we have, which is control over our bodies, control of our labor, to make the situation ungovernable and untenable in the United States, and to do it in an organized systemic fashion. So the hope is all the folks, young and old, who would have been meeting each other on the first times on the streets you know these last five days throughout this country, see the humanity in each other regardless of what their age sex gender race nationality may be, find their common interests because you know one of the things I'm going back again speaking to some of the new folks who's coming out, it's them finding the finding their same life interests to be, you know, I may be still a little bit ahead of you but that's not saying much in this race, and that we have more in common and we have a set of common enemies which are totally about mortgaging our future for their profit, that we have more in common if we stand together and fight back and and build a new system through our organized, self-organized activities, and building new productive relationships and new overall social relationships. I think today June 1st you know is our second 1st [of the month] strike action, in the midst of what can only be described in my view as the Floyd Rebellion, those two things I think coming together, I hope we are able to give some sustained direction and focus you know, in a broader degree of kind of coherent demands that address all the particular issues that have been uncovered and brought to the fore - that's what I'm hoping happens today, and that I think the People's Strike and all the organizations that have endorsed and [actions] have taken place in one form or fashion bringing to the fore, and I think today we do that first and foremost by engaging in serious conversations with each other about what's next cuz that has to be a broad, you know, a democratic organization where folks are really debating it out you know, but coming to terms and building the relationships that are going to be necessary to to transform you know a rebellion ultimately into a revolution, cuz that's what we need to go. This is the first step - it's a good crack, you know, it's a beautiful fissure in the piece, but that wall hasn't been deconstructed just yet, we got a lot of work to do to tear that down.

From Counterpunch Radio - Wednesday, June 3, 2020

As the US erupts in protest in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Eric chats with Kali Akuno, co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson and organizer with People’s Strike. Kali gives his reactions to Trump’s quasi-martial law decree and some of the rhetoric he used in his disturbing “Law and Order” speech. Eric and Kali discuss the importance of Black and Brown youth leadership in this uprising, and how the level of political consciousness is much higher than previous uprisings. From there the conversation touches on everything from the formation of Trumpist brownshirts and how the Left must organize itself for defense to the understanding that Trump has brought the War on Terror home. Don’t miss the critical discussion on CounterPunch!

Right to the City Alliance Teach-in about nationwide powerful Black led organizing during COVID-19 by Miami Workers' Center, KHEPRW Institute, Cooperation Jackson and Detroit People's Platform.

The Teach-In was conducted and broadcast on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020.

Cooperation Jackson speakers included Sacajawea “Saki” Hall, Kwame Braxton, Sabrina Howard, and Shambe Jones.

General Strike 2020 is one of the first. organizations to call for a General Strike to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the social contradictions it unleashed. General Strike conducted a 36 hour broadcast on May 30th and June 1st, 2020.

Kali Akuno was one of the key speakers of the broadcast representing Cooperation Jackson and the People’s Strike.

View the complete People’s Strike live-action broadcast from Monday, June 1st, 2020 in 2 parts.

People’s Strike is a growing coalition of workers, community, and political organizations confronting the COVID-19 pandemic by a) struggling against inept and corrupt government and the forces of capital (banks, corporations, brokers, etc.) putting profit before the people and the planet by trying to force us back to work against scientific evidence and reasoning to restore their profits and the relations of inequality that worsened this pandemic for Indigenious, Black, Latino, and other vulnerable communities, b) organizing emergency relief and various forms of mutual aid to to provide working people and communities with the resources they need to survive and thrive during this pandemic, and c) building new forms of cooperative and community production to produce for community need and political autonomy and community governance to create a more equitable and just society.

People’s Strike was initiated by Cooperation. Jackson on March 31st, 2020.

Millions took action in the USA on Mayday against Trump and his allies' plans to relax the lockdown and put workers' lives in danger - calling for "No work, no shopping, no rent, no jails". The peoples' strike saw people joining in on walkouts, sickouts, lunchbreak protests, rent strikes, car caravans, detention centre hunger strikes, boycotts of Amazon and other retailers not protecting their workers, buying nothing for the day, and simply taking the day off. The organisers are now planning to have peoples strikes on the 1st of every month until their basic demands are met, with the ultimate aim to push for a general strike. They want a "people's bailout" for a proper lockdown that keeps workers safe, and a new world which takes power away from the rich and the corporations. The next strike is on June 1, the day that the UK government wants to start relaxing the lockdown ... let's make these strikes global.

Truthout article focusing on the initiative of the People’s Strike to continue advancing the call to build a general strike to confront the ills of COVID-19, racism. and white supremacy and transform social relations in the United States and beyond.

This article was written by Frances Madeson.

Dialogue from Thursday, May 21, 2020

As governments and corporations fail to protect ordinary people from the ravages of the crisis, community networks are organizing their own communities around the principles of mutual aid, solidarity, and autonomous direct action. Their aim is solidarity not charity. Cooperation and interdependence, not competition. Learn from longtime mutual aid organizers on how to protect each other during coronavirus and how to build long-term, liberatory, and resilient communities beyond this pandemic and the death cult of capitalism and settler colonialism.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

In honor of Malcolm X, Yuri Kochiyama, Ho Chi Minh, and Lorraine Hansberry.

A live telecast organized by Cooperation Jackson and Daraja Press. Featuring Sacajawea “Saki” Hall (Cooperation Jackson), Thandisizwe Chimurenga (Cooperation Jackson), Diane Fujino (UC Santa Barbara), Dylan Rodriguez (UC Riverside), Yvonne Yen Liu (Solidarity Research), and Connie Wun (AAPI Women Lead), Connie Huynh (AF3IRM).

A special program: interview with Kali Akuno, leader of Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi. As a leader of national May Day actions, he discusses their size, diversity, motivations and goals (including planned monthly national actions). He analyzes organizational challenges and prospects. Finally, he explains why he believes this May Day was a major strengthening of the US left.