“Some of the most significant things happen in history when you get the right people in the right place at the right time. And I think that’s where we are.”
— The Honorable Chokwe Lumumba, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, speaking with Laura Flanders of GritTV, two weeks before his passing.
Rise in Power! Free the People, Free the Land!
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance sends our deep love and condolences to the family and community of The Honorable Chokwe Lumumba, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, whose sudden and tragic passing at the young age of 66 on February 25, 2014, has left many of us shocked and devastated at the loss of this historic leader.
Compañero Chokwe Lumumba was elected Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in June 2013 after a vibrant campaign rooted in The Jackson Plan laid out by Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Jackson People’s Assembly.
We pledge to keep alive the hopes and dreams that Compañero Chokwe Lumumba inspired in so many movement leaders, organizers, freedom fighters.
Compañero Chokwe Lumumba was one of the founders of Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM). Join us in sending solidarity to our compañer@s, fellow GGJ members MXGM, and his family and community in Jackson. We offer this page as a place where GGJ members and allies can share with MXGM the hopes and dreams that Compañero Chokwe Lumumba inspired in you. Please post a comment on this page with your solidarity messages and thoughts, visions and hopes that Compañero Chokwe Lumumba has inspired in you, and what you pledge to do in his memory. In two weeks on March 13 we will compile and send the comments to his family and MXGM.
Learn more about Chokwe Lumumba:
- Listen to an interview on Hard Knock radio with Kali Akuno of MXGM & Jackson Rising January 20, 2014: Jackson Rising: The Bold Agenda of Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Lumumba for 2014
- Watch a profile of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba by Jordan Flaherty
- Watch the commemoration by Democracy Now: Remembering Chokwe Lumumba: Remembering “America’s Most Revolutionary Mayor”
- Watch Mayor Chokwe Lumumba’s Mayoral Victory Speech, June 4, 2013
- Watch Compañero Chokwe Lumumba’s speech at the 30th Annual Black Workers For Justice Banquet in April 2013. “You can’t give up because the task is difficult. All you do when the task is difficult, you get to work, that’s what you do, you get down.”—Chokwe Lumumba
- Read The Lumumba Economy by Jackson Free Press
Support Lumumba’s legacy in Jackson, Mississippi:
Jackson Rising New Economies Conference: Keep the legacy of Compañero Chokwe Lumumba alive by supporting the New Economies Conference in Jackson, MS on May 2-4, 2014. “The primary objective of the Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference is to educate and mobilize the people of Jackson to build cooperatives and worker owned enterprises to meet the economic and sustainability needs of the community. In the process, we aim to expand the discussion about alternative economic models and systems and to confront the harsh economic realities confronting low-income and impoverished communities.”
Support the Jackson Rising New Economies Conference and the Grassroots Economic Series with a donation. Help make Jackson, Mississippi a center of economic democracy where jobs have dignity, stability, living wages, and quality benefits. Click here to help Jackson Rise or mail your financial contribution payable to Community Aid and Development Inc. Please specify “Jackson Rising” in the notes section of your check and mail donations to Community and Development, Incorporated P.O. Box 361270, Decatur, GA 30036-1270.
The Lumumba family is requesting financial assistance for the Celebration of Life fund. This fund will cover family fees related to the home going services for Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. Donations can be made on line at www.cadnational.org Just look for the link on the page for donation to the services. Donations by mail can be made payable to Community Aid and Development and mailed to the address on the website.
NCBL (National Conference of Black Lawyers) has made a separate request, also on behalf of the Lumumba family, to cover the cost of an independent autopsy. Donations can be made to that effort via Paypal by going to paypal.com sending your donation to the email addressncbl1968@gmail.com.