Cooperation Jackson
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| Founded | May 1, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 939 W. Capitol St., , |
Area served | Jackson, Mississippi |
| Revenue | 2,177,347 United States dollar (2022) |
| Total assets | 2,889,738 United States dollar (2022) |
| Website | https://cooperationjackson.org |
Cooperation Jackson is a network of worker cooperatives in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It aims to develop a series of independent but connected democratic institutions to empower workers and residents of Jackson, particularly to address the needs of poor, unemployed, Black and Latino residents.[1] The development of Cooperation Jackson has been heavily inspired by the Mondragon Corporation in Spain, which is also a federation of cooperatives, and by historical cooperative movements as described in works by W. E. B. Du Bois and in the book Collective Courage by Jessica Gordon Nembhard.[2]
Cooperation Jackson, which was created in 2014, strives to enact a vision of a radically democratic city of interconnected cooperatives and supporting institutions. Although the city of Jackson was already home to the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, before Cooperation Jackson was formed, there were not many cooperative businesses located there. Kali Akuno, a co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson,[3] describes the organization's objective as bringing a strong focus on cooperative economics into an urban American context, in contrast to the more common rural context of agricultural co-ops and utility co-ops.[2]
The organization has attempted to work within and outside of the government to achieve its goals. It has resisted anti-democratic measures by the Mississippi state legislature including austerity measures,[dubious – discuss] an attempted takeover of Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, and an attempt to pass legislation to give control of the city government to Mississippi's governor.[4] The organizers also struggle with working in an economically depressed city in the poorest state in the United States.[5]
Jackson-Kush Plan
Akuno has described the network as a key part of enacting the Jackson-Kush Plan.[2] The plan, which was developed by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,[6] involves building a strong base of community wealth, stability, racial equity, and economic democracy in Jackson.[1] It has three planks, which are the "building of a broad-based solidarity economy, the building of people's assemblies, and the building of an independent black political party."[7]
Organizers behind Cooperation Jackson believe that a solidarity economy rooted in democratic principles is a core requirement of developing the community's capacity and vision in making meaningful change. The Jackson-Kush Plan describes the role of this economy as a "transitional strategy and praxis to build 21st century socialism and advance the abolition of capitalism and the poverty and oppressive social relations that it fosters".[8] The direct democracy of people's assemblies and local government electoral strategy are designed to both benefit and benefit from a strong cooperative system.[7]