A (6:33)

All right, let me get into Some of the details with you. Can you give us a sense? What was the motivation? How did these people, these tens of thousands that you've just described, how were they motivated? What is it that they want? What brought them to participate?

B (6:54)

Good question. Well, I think we have to start with the wildcat strikes that started in many states in March. And those were very spontaneous. You know, they started happening at sanitation plants, auto plants, some of these slaughterhouses were some of the first actions that really started to occur in March. I think one of the most noted ones to me was one that happened in the chicken factory in Georgia. And that was noted because of where it was at and the actions that folks took in defense of their own lives. And so the first immediate kind of response that you just saw also from Amazon and other places was that people were being required to work basically by law at that point, under the force of law, I should say, to be specific, without the personal protective equipment and without a safe working environment. So people were striking just in basic self defense that they were learning more about the actual impact of this virus. Remember in early March, you know, if you were listening to the president, this was just a bad flu, you know, that there was nothing more. But people were finding out from folks in their own communities that it was far worse and it was far deadlier and that they were not being properly educated nor properly protected. That was the first, I think, majority impulse of many to take these wildcat strikes was we need knowledge, we need information, we need to be protected. And the companies have a responsibility to protect their workers and provide them with a safe working environment. That was the initial kind of response. I think broader responses started to come as we started to understand that the real scale of negligence that the federal government, you know, was, was, I don't want to say executing because they didn't execute anything but, but ignoring facts, ignoring reality and trying to wish certain things away. But as people started to become, I think, more aware of what was happening, you started to see a broad social demand for again, information, but also protection, as folks were trying to figure out, is it safe for me to go home? Is it safe to me, I mean, for me to work and then go home? Am I taking this virus back to my family, to my community? And we started to find out real quick the answer was yes. And so many people started to just stay away. And then as that started to increase, you saw more workers really trying to respond with just staying at home and calling on each other for support. And we saw very early on with the initial kind of shutdowns. And even prior to that, the response of many working people was first looking towards each other. So there was a massive explosion in March of mutual aid efforts that were happening all throughout the country that I don't think we should forget, because I think it points towards, you know, how humans will really respond to each other's needs in time of crisis. And it's not towards competition, it's actually towards collaboration and help, I think, for the vast majority of us. And I think that demonstrated that even in this very individualized culture and context that we live in. But then I think the critical piece really started to turn, I think the beginning of the end of April, the beginning of March, where a more political character to this piece started to show up. And that, I think really in summer, was on the heels of these early calls, particularly from forces on the right to open the economy up, when it became clear. It was starting to become clear by that point how deadly this was and that it was spreading rapidly and that they had very little regard for human life. And on the heels of that, you started to see President Trump use the crisis as a means of advancing policies, you know, right wing policies, which will put us all in detriment and danger in the future. So all the scrapping of the environmental protections that have gone on in the wake of this, the scrapping of workplace protections, putting forth legislation that does not hold companies liable for workers getting sick on the job and them bearing no responsibility, that I think started to put the political focus on many people's minds, particularly our minds, as we started to look and say, look at this and say they're using this as a form of disaster capitalism to reshape the rules, policies and programs of the society, to recreate it and recraft it. And that note for us as cooperation, Jackson, that really led us to really try to give this not just a immediate kind of relief response, but a political response, so that we really started to articulate a new vision of society in a new direction as to where we think we should go. Because we were trying to be very clear from the beginning, the circumstances mean that we are not going to go back to the old status quo that's effectively been shattered. And some things were in motion that were weakening that even before the crisis got full blown on the economic end. So we're not going back to the old normal. But more importantly, nor should we, because the old normal, in all of its exploitation, all of its, its racism, patriarchy, is what is leading to the types of calamities that we're seeing and who's being impacted and why. And so to say that we should just return to the way things were means you're actually just going to aggravate underlying conditions which, which are creating the crisis as it is playing out right before our very eyes. So I know for, for me and the community that I represent, there is no interest, no desire to go back to normal. We're trying to look ahead to the future and what type of changes should be made to make sure that we live in a healthier, safer, more democratic society than occurred before this all erupted.

A (13:10)

All right, Kali, we've come to the end of the first half. Stay with me. We are going to just make a brief announcement and then everyone, we will be coming back to go further and look deeper into all of the significance of the May Day events. Please remember listeners and viewers to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to visit democracyatwork.info to learn more about all of our activities, our union co op store and the books we publish. Understanding Marxism and understanding Socialism. And of course, the usual special thanks to our Patreon community for their invaluable support. They make possible special programs like this as well as all that we do. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Welcome back, friends, to the second half of today's economic update. We're in the midst of an interview for the whole program today with Kali Akuno from Jackson, Mississippi, where he joins us to talk about those events of May Day 2020, what they were, what they were motivated by, what was bringing people to them, a huge number, as Kali told us. I want now to continue that conversation and ask Kali whether he thinks the old problem that the left has had in the United States for so long of being divided among many different groups going in different directions, but having great difficulty organizing so that they can collaborate, come together and have the benefit for each of them of the alliance with the other. Kali, can you tell us something about either what organizations already were in place or what it is that you were able to do and cbaby coming down the road?

B (15:15)

Well, let me say that this initially started in a bunch of regional, local and regional debates for U.S. cooperation. Jackson it started with a bunch of regional and local debates about the impact of the coronavirus. We were trying to do our best from January, in fact, to try to get more local organizations and groups that we allied with and in some relationship with to know about this and to take it serious. And for us, this comes on the heels of having lost comrades personally, but also others in the organization, to the H1N1 and to SARS, of which the coronavirus is in the same general family of viruses. So we knew to take it serious. We have been monitoring developments in China and other parts of Asia going back to November, actually, myself in particular, having that history, having lost a good comrade whenever these things have been popping up in various ways over the years, been paying a lot of attention to it. So at first, I would say, started off for us just reaching out to our allies in the region and raising questions and trying to put this on people's radar screen. And the reason being for that, just so your audience knows, the health infrastructure in Mississippi is terrible. And so as much kind of forewarning and foreplaying that you can provide here with any kind of knowledge, it's helpful. But, you know, Mississippi is always, you know, annually, granularly at the bottom of every indicator. You know, we're the worst, one of the worst in terms of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, you name it, Mississippi is there. So for us, there's a public health character to what we're doing to protect our community, to keep it informed. And that led to some political conversations with, like, as I was mentioning in the first part in March, but we were starting to monitor with, particularly with some of the environmental groups, some of the things that were being changed. And these are conversations that were happening inside of the Grassroots Global justice alliance, inside of the Climate justice alliance, which are two national alliances that we are part of. In particular, key activists there who are monitoring a number of different things. So one of the first groups that we were in some serious conversation with, Black Socialists in America.

A (17:49)

Let me pick up on what you were saying and ask you, what are the plans now, given all that you've told us going forward? What is the plan? Are you still aiming for some kind of general strike? Are you planning actions building in that direction? How do you see the next phase of what you've been doing?

B (18:11)

Well, thank you for asking that question. Number one, we are definitely planning to keep building towards the general strike. We know that's going to take some time. The thing that our coalition is committed to doing in the most general sense, we want everybody to take note of this because we want as many people as possible to follow us. The idea initially came from one of our coalition partners, Corona Strike, that given that we know how long this is going to take, particularly economic side of it, that we should plan for and execute broad strikes, broad mass actions. The first of every month. So we are going to pick this back up again on June 1st. And we're encouraging everybody in earshot of this to join us. And again, using the same kind of platform, we're asking everybody to take the action that you can at the level of risk that you believe that you can, and to be involved in a wide variety of actions. There's no one way to be involved because we're all in different places. But we have to utilize our positionality as best we can to really bring the point home to the forces of capital and the government that things are going to change and that we are taking it upon ourselves to take the first steps to make the change. So we're asking folks, again in part out of solidarity, but also part recognizing reality, to continue to win strikes and make that known on an even larger, larger and grander scale in June than it was in May. We're asking, you know, workers to continue to press for their rights on the job and continue to take in workplace actions. So we know the vast majority are still not being offered the basic minimum in personal protection. And we want to extend that further. And that's what's not just immediate demands, but the broader piece of democratizing all of our workplaces, which is a part of the broader long term struggle. We're asking folks who have to work from home, you know, be they teachers or you know, working with some private company, to strike in place and to make your strike activity known on that day by sending out broad messages or making demands to your employers and to the forces of government to let them know the situation. And we're also asking people to, to not shop and to not go to school. And basically just on the 1st of every month going forward, as we continue to build and amass our strength and power to send clear message home that no rent, no work, no shopping. You know, we're aiming to shut it down and send a clear message, but also to build our own organizing capacity towards creating a new society. So we got long term plans for this, Rick, and everybody encourage everybody to stick with us because we're in it for the long haul. And this is going to be a very long struggle, regardless of whether they open it up tomorrow, which would be a disaster by all accounts. But we know that the virus is going to be here, the lack of a response is going to be here, and the economic dimensions of all of the collective suffering. And now millions of people are involved. That's going to be. And we have to organize that. You know, we're starting to Encourage people to go back and look at some of the lessons from the 1930s in particular, and encouraging people to start organizing unemployed councils using some of the models of the 1930s. And we think we have a sound basis in doing that by first starting with the mutual aid organizations that have cropped up all throughout the country is now in the hundreds. So we have, I think, some of the preliminary means to get started, But I think the question and the challenge is organizing to scale and connecting politically. That is some of the next focus that we're going to be looking towards as People Strike. And Cooperation Jackson is further furthering our links, deepening our connections, and sharpening up our organization to take on the task ahead.

A (22:10)

Kali, if someone watching or listening wants to somehow get involved and know what, where, or how he or she can connect to what you've been describing, is there some place or places that you can tell our audience about right now?

B (22:30)

Yeah. So to connect with Cooperation Jackson, the best places to look are our website, which is cooperationjackson.org or our Facebook page, which is Cooperation Jackson. Our Twitter handle that Cooperation JXN Capital, jxn. And for the People Strike, which is the broader Coalition, look for peoplestrike.org for our website and growing media presence there. But you can also email us to get directly involved in some of the organizing@mayday 2020 generalstrikemail.com and also look for People Strike on Facebook and Twitter as well.

A (23:12)

Okay, now the biggest question. I wish we had more time, but at least I want a brief response. Is it overly romantic? Is it dreaming? Or is it reasonable to see all of this as the beginning of a New Left movement in the United States, both in the workplace, but also in the residents, in the communities? A kind of combining of workplace organizing and community organizing into something that can fundamentally change the direction of American society.

B (23:48)

In my view, and this may be subjective, but absolutely, I do believe so. I think we're planting the seeds. I think many of those were already coming together from the last crisis that we were dealing with. And these things take time to build. But I think if you look at, you know, many of the dynamic coalitions that already existed, you know, like, it takes roots. If you look at some of the broader work that the Democratic socialists of America have been taking on in some of the mass character it's been gaining, we're starting to combine all of this motion and imagery. I think we saw clear signs of that during this May Day, and that's something to build upon. That I think can and will change the character of the left. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take a lot of struggle. There's a lot of political and ideological struggle still to be had. But I think this is just my view. There is a level of maturation that is happening, that we are finding ways, despite many of our old school political ideological differences, to actually work on developing a concrete program that we can carry forward to transform society. I think we're moving in that direction.

A (24:59)

Any international linkage, Is there any kind of connection to, and I know we're running out of time, but briefly to other parallel, let's call them parallel struggles in other parts of the world.

B (25:13)

Yes, I wish we had more time. Maybe another time, Rick. But I just got off the phone with some international comrades. The network has been building on the heels of this that today represented 15 different countries. So we've been in dialogue with folks from South Africa to Indonesia to India to Hong Kong to Italy, Spain, France, the uk, Several countries, including Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Chile in Latin America that I know were on that call. And from the beginning, I wish we had more time. I should say that our direct experience as Cooperation Jackson was really shaped by the international context and relations that we had. So just briefly, if I can, one of the things that even led us to this point was being in some detailed conversation with comrades in Italy who let us know that we needed to take this very serious. This was in February. You know, we had already on this track, but they were letting us know it's more deadlier than they're even saying, is more uncertain than it's saying. It does impact younger folks, not just older people. And they told us very clearly that when we had started kind of a mutual aid response, relief response here in Jackson immediately at the end of February and beginning of March. And they told us in no uncertain terms, unless you have the personal protective equipment, stop until we, you can figure this out. Because they did it, you know, as part of their common practice and all of their members got sick, Right. And so they let us know, hey, find some other ways, take this serious. But that is because of the international relations that we were able to have that kind of advanced warning and start thinking in new and creative ways of how do we organize to deal with this particular crisis.

A (27:07)

Well, you've answered my question. That's Solidarity International if ever it was. Thank you so much for your time, Kali, for your insights, all the work that you're doing. And let me plead with my audience, pitch in. This is a time of crisis. But as always, it's also a time of opportunity. And let the crisis build us the opportunity to act together. Thank you, Kali. Thank you, all of you that watch and listen. And I look forward to speaking with you again next week.

B (27:43)

Sa, Sam, Sa.