Poverty and powerlessness for the overwhelming majority are steadily increasing throughout the United States. This immiseration is a product of widening income inequality and the increased concentration of wealth in the hands of a small minority, which is the direct result of the neo-liberal strategy pursued by transnational corporations and the barron’s of finance who lord over the capitalist world-system.

We need a new socio-economic system to eliminate the austerity, exploitation, and inhumane suffering that is at the heart of the present system. We need an economic system that is democratic. A system where workers, producers, distributors, and consumers all have an equal stake in the ownership of the essential resources and means of production; an equal say in when, why, how, by whom and under what conditions goods and services are produced and distributed; and an equal say in the terms of compensation and/or value exchanged in all economic transactions. These are the basics of “economic democracy”.

The movement for economic democracy – as expressed by the growing solidarity economy, cooperative, and rejuvenated workers movements – is steadily growing in the United States. But, it still has a long way to go towards amassing the strength necessary to act as a truly transformative force. Cooperation Jackson, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and the Jackson People’s Assembly intend on making a substantive contribution towards the development of this movement in our Jackson, Mississippi base as we work to execute the Jackson-Kush Plan. We are working with the Southern Grassroots Economies Project (SGEP), the Our Power Campaign, and the National Planning Committee (NPC) of the US Social Forum, amongst other networks and alliances, to build and expand the movement for economic democracy throughout the United States. We encourage all those who believe in economic justice to join us.

Cooperation Jackson, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Jackson People’s Assembly, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung – New York Office, and the National Planning Committee (NPC) of the US Social Forum are hosting a People’s Movement Assembly on the “Struggle to Build Economic Democracy” in the United States Friday, January 23rd and Saturday, January 24th, 2015. The People’s Movement Assembly will be held at the Chokwe Lumumba Center for Economic Democracy and Development located at 939 W. Capitol Street, Jackson, MS 39203.

For more details email CooperationJackson@gmail.com