We get an update on the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, from Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson. We talk about climate disasters all over the country and how the contaminated water crisis and infrastructure collapse are connected.
We talk about the sordid legacy and practice of white supremacy and how the desire to keep Black people ‘powerless’ has been playing out with the water crisis..
We talk about how Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre has exasperated things with his Welfare Fund scandal, where he is accused of stealing millions of dollars to build a volleyball stadium. That money as was pointed out, could’ve gone to helping repair the crumbling infrastructure around Jackson’s water facilities.
Below is a statement put out by Cooperation Jackson:
Jackson, Mississippi, is currently suffering through an unprecedented water crisis. After decades of systematic and intentional neglect due to environmental racism, capital flight and deindustrialization, the city’s water system has collapsed.
This collapse didn’t have to happen. As a result of the city’s declining tax base over the decade, it cannot pay for the repairs by itself. Nor should it have to. Jackson is the Capitol of the state of Mississippi, which means it is the base of state government and resources. In addition, it is also where the Federal government’s administrative resources in the state are concentrated. These entities use the water system, just like the cities over 160,000, predominantly Black residents do. They must pay their fair share in overhauling and modernizing the system.
Jackson’s elected officials have been asking the state government to make a substantive contribution to the system for decades. However, the Republican, predominantly white, party leadership that has dominated state government for generations now, fundamentally refuses. They would rather the city collapse than structurally enable and support its Black political leadership and Black life in general.
Enough is enough! The State and Federal governments must provide the City of Jackson the resources it needs to completely overhaul and modernize the city’s water filtration and delivery systems. The new system must be designed with ecological sustainability in mind, and it must be built by the working people of Jackson. Money must not be an issue. If the government can generate billions of dollars to provide immediate and long term aid to the governments of Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel so readily, then it can generate them for the people of Jackson.
Justice for Jackson Entails the implementation of a Just Transition that adheres to the following principles and demands:
- That the State and Federal government immediately fund the complete overhaul of the Jackson water treatment and delivery systems.
- That the new system fully remains within the democratic control of the city of Jackson.
- That the new system be built by the people of Jackson and that over 50% of the contracts awarded be granted to either contractors from Jackson and/or Black and other minority contractors to ensure equity and the development of intergenerational wealth in our communities.
- That the new system be ecologically designed and built with as many locally and or regionally sourced resources as possible.
Leave a Reply