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)
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
.
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
.
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.”
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.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant declaring April 2016 Confederate History Month at the opening of the new Civil Rights Museum on Wednesday, February 24, 2014, i.e. Black History Month.
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
.
Chokwe was elected in part to institute a program of economic democracy based
on cooperative economics and participatory governance
. 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.
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 Josh 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)
.
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
. 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
.
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.
Map of the Medical Corridor District.
The Jackson Medgar Wiley Evers Airport was built by the City
of Jackson in 1963 - 64
.
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
.
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)
. 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.
Map of the Downtown Annexation Corridor or "Capitol Complex Improvement District"
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
.
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
.
One of Jackson's many corroded water main pipes.
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
. 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
.
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
.
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
.
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
. 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.
Metropolitan Jackson, MS - i.e. Jackson and its dependent and extractive suburbs.
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
to
info@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 at
https://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:
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 at
info@coalitionjustice.org.
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/.
See “Jackson: New Rankin County Wastewater Plant is
Unlawful” http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/feb/11/jackson-new-rankin-county-wastewater-plant-unlawfu/.
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