Cooperation Jackson webinar

• webinars with different grassroots organisations
• aim: internationalise and share experience from people in different contexts
• of networks organising using solidarity economy, building from the grassroots
• organising for a better life and the freedom of their society
• SEA: small coop based in the UK

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Speaker : [[Kali Akuno]] of [[Cooperation Jackson]]

currently a water crisis in Jackson

currently in the middle of distribution event

types of community organising - organising by trades (union style) - cooperatives - originally coops serviced social and reproductive needs - child care coops, etc - after: a compromise during 1930s compromise - capital struck a deal with some labour leaders - national labour board etc - set it up so that labour could only work for wages, hours, and healthcare - but removed ability for political strikes and political action - one union can not work in concert with other set of workers - same as UK - social security and social welfare as well - removed the need for social organising in a sense - divorced the coops from the trade unions - limiting what both could do in terms of power and struggle, became special interest groups within bourgeious order - coop jackson are intentional in trying to break that - history exists in a context of colonization, white power and patriarchy - black workers did not work in industries that were allowed to be unionzed - e.g. farming or maids - because of race - black workers were excluded from trade unions - lost the ability to own the means of production - CJ developing model that gets out of these relations of production - Jackson, rouhgly 220,000 in Jackson - it has shrunk to about 160-180 thousand in recent years - 80% of city is black - brain drain: black doctors from Mississipi move elsewhere in the US - 85% population is potential leverage of political power - black political power - Jackson-Kush Plan - automous independent power, dual power - self-governance through people’s assemblies - democratising the economy - CJ was explicitly for this part of it - political power without economic power is symbol without substance - additionally running for elected office - two mayors have been elected - a young project with a lot of experimentation - mistake have been made, CJ aim to learn from them - CJ about 8 years old - accomplishments: - [[community land trust]] - 44 properties - collectively-owned - saved up money to own outright - (CJ don’t trust banks, racist institutions) - network of federated [[cooperatives]] - Green Team (landscaping cooperative) - Freedom Farms (hit hard by water crisis) - [[Community Production Coop]] - manufacturing coop - digital fabrication coop, 3d printing, electrical design and craft, print shop - in the pipeline - Zero Waste Jackson (recycling and composting coop) - People’s Groceries - Cannabis coop - medicinal cannabis coop - hemp and bamboo as sustainable materials for the CPC - withstand pressures of capitalist market - largest employer in Mississipi is Wal-Mart - a vicious corporation - they want no form of competition - some coops have failed, but there’s space to do that - owning gives this time and space for learning - one coop failed (previous recycling and composting coop) - too tightly coupled to city system - city shut everything down, then the coop failed - walmart investor in recreational cannabis in mississipi

to democratise economy - create supply and value chains

most coops in US - constructed on friends and favours orientation - 10 people who like the same thing, turn it in to an income - in CJ, given poverty etc - what will given the most independence from market structure and political leverage?

e.g. food was weaponised during hurricane katrina, so ownership of food supply is strategic

a lot of trial and error in CJ - that’s something to get used to in solidarity economy

outline

• link between coops and unions
• limits to power for both of these

how are the people’s assemblies organised and used?

questions

what does the solidarity economy mean to CJ?

• what are CJ striving against?
  • entrepreneuriship has been promoted in black community as answer to all problems
  • i.e. individual ownership
    • but this is a continuation of unequal relationships
• prefer individuality over individualism
• solidarity is the antidote to individualism
  • being in alignment and in practice with people who are not your blood or kin or clan, but your community
  • productive relationships where we consciously and deliberately depend upon each other

how to get started in Solidarity economy

• start with what you have
• avoid thinking in terms of deficits
• e.g. if you don’t have a job, maybe you have a lot of time
• who can I work with and how can I work with them

water crisis in Jackson

• there’s no affordable drinking water currently in Jackson
• water pressure has been restored (since about a week ago)
  • sanitary system was not functioning
• need to avoid airborne diseases
  • it’s a hot and humid region
  • malaria and denge fever and sleeping sickness are coming back
• to get bottled water you would have had to go 20 miles out of the city (last week)
  • now if you get to a grocery store early in the morning you can buy water
  • most people don’t have enough money to go and buy water
• CJ doing water distribution
• all the faith and community organisations are doing water distribution
  • but still not enough people are getting water
• if you don’t have a car, you can’t get enough water
• CJ going to members in the community and doing water drop offs
• working age people are off working elsewhere sending money back
  • reverse bell curve for the population (lots of young and elderly)
• no indication as to when the water will be restored
• problems
  • pipes are old, antiquated and lead, they break a lot
  • treatment facility is broken - it’s not cleaning the water
    • billions of dollars to build a new treatment facility
      • state government is refusing to give money for this
• racial component to how it is playing out
  • state government redirecting money from federal government to white neighbourhoods outside of jackson

how did jackson get going?

• it was a long time in gestation
• going back generations
• then in 2001…
  • group decided to get together and pool resources
  • $50 a month in to collective pool
  • to buy land in mississipi
  • a lot of patience, a lot of discipline
  • first purchase in 2011
• additionally some athletes and entertainers from the area
  • they’ve given back
• property values are low in mississipi and in jackson
  • might not have been able to do the same thing in atlanta for example

how to avoid cooptation?

• foundations come and offer grants with a lot of conditions
• have to be patient and disciplined and don’t be tempted by these
• a long-term intergenerational vision and being able to stick to it

accountability processes?

• open communication and transparent communication

threats to CJ from the state etc

• the most concerning of late
  • mississipi has a supermajority that controls state legislature now
  • passing preventative laws
  • e.g. climate justice
    • after helping with committment to reducing emissions by about 10% in a couple of years…
    • state legislature
      • said mississipi must not adhere to any EU standards around climate
• so CJ have had to censor themselves to some degree
• FBI sniffing around, trying to intimidate
  • they’ve been infiltrated, disruption

how to get those on low income involved?

• don’t just assume that people can participate
  • that is classist and gendered
• low dues
• but if can’t afford it, then give us some time
• building up systems that allow people to participate
  • e.g. single mothers - provide childcare