Jackson Free Press

Chokwe A. Lumumba, the son of Jackson's late mayor and the second-place finisher in the recent mayor's race, said he's disappointed the city pulled its support for the Jackson Rising conference, a key component of his father's economic agenda.

On Feb. 27, the Jackson City Council unanimously approved a resolution to support Jackson Rising, which promoted worker-owned cooperative business, the planning for which began soon after Lumumba came into office last summer.

City Hall spokeswoman Pam Confer said last week that although the council did approve a resolution to support the conference, it "did not designate funds or resources to the event" and that "requests for financial or in-kind resources must be approved by the city council."

"If we're pledging support, it has to go beyond the ceremonial—especially a conference created for the purposes of developing Jackson," Lumumba said the Tuesday after the conference.

Session topics including starting a cooperative, worker's rights, land trusts, economic justice, urban farming, and waste management and recycling. Almost 1,000 participants traveled from all over the country and from Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and South Africa.

Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps attended the conference. Stamps later said that the Rainbow Co-op is good example of how cooperatives could be duplicated in the city's "food deserts," and provide economic development.

"There's a possibility to fill an unmet need," he said.

It's unclear whether other high-profile city officials attended, nor were any city officials listed on the programs as speakers. In addition, Jackson attendance was low; before the conference and during the campaign, some Lumumba foes criticized the $25 registration fee as a barrier for working-class citizens.

Lumumba said organizers stressed all along that despite the registration cost that no person who wanted to participate would be turned away and that no one was turned away during the conference. He also acknowledged that his campaign for mayor consumed a lot of energy that otherwise would have gone into community outreach for Jackson Rising.

Despite his disappointment with the city's lack of participation with the conference, Lumumba said he remains open to working with the city and mending fences with city officials.

"I think we have some work to do. I'm confident that, ultimately, we'll build a better Jackson," Lumumba said.