Kali Sheik Akuno blamed Mayor Tony Yarber's election on record-breaking white and low black turnout at the polls lasts week. Yup. You read that correctly. Here are a few excerpts of Brother Akuno's comments.
Well, that's the essential question we have been studying since the election finished on the 22nd. And a couple of things clearly stood out. Number one, Antar won over 65 percent, 68 percent to be exact, of the black voter turnout. And normally in a city like Jackson, which is over 80 percent black, that would give you a landslide victory. But the black voter turnout was low. And we'll--going to--go into--I'll go into a few of my own explanations as to why.
But the other kind of flipside of that was there was a record white turnout for this particular election, and that was really the difference in terms of the sheer numbers. It was 75 percent of the white voting age population in the City of Jackson, (KF: Liar) those who registered, turned out to vote, and it looks like only about 35 to 40 percent of the black electorate turned out. Antar only won 10 percent of the white electorate. So that shifted the balance in the favor of now mayor Yarber significantly, who only won 32 percent of the black vote. So it was a very odd vote, but it spoke to the kind of times and conditions existing here in Jackson, Mississippi, and the campaign, really, of fear Tony Yarber ran on and some of the dirty tactics his campaign used to really try to paint Antar not only as a radical, but as someone who was going to turn the city's finances and budgets over to a number of unsavory characters, was kind of how it was portrayed. And this wasn't public, and we didn't get all this information until a little bit after the campaign was over, but that is basically how it stood. (KF note: Dirty tactics?)
DESVARIEUX: Let's go back to your first point, though, Kali. I want to ask you: why was black voter turnout--was so low? Why was it so low?
AKUNO: Well, the reason I think it was so low: number one, folks knew Chokwe Lumumba very well from all of his years of service in the community, you know, over 40 years of the Jackson community. So there's a tremendous amount of respect, understanding who he was, his character, what he stood for. He was tried over time. So people knew that. Antar being so young, being his son, people didn't know him just personally or know his reputation as well, and I think that hurt him a bit, particularly with the older voting population.
And then I think the other reason: there are some things that we need to look at that during our eight months in office, that I don't really think--and this is something we want to put out to others to learn from--I don't think we really came out as forcefully, as boldly as we could have and should have to represent black working-class interests here in the City of Jackson. That was always a part of our agenda, but unfortunately we did not have enough time in that eight months to fully unveil what that program was and what we intended it to be. And I think without really fully unveiling that in the midst of some of the water rate increases that our administration kind of put in place, which were--people have deemed them to be necessary, but they were not highly popular, and the 1 percent sales tax, which a lot of people in the community also understood to be necessary the resources I don't think we motivated enough people to understand that this was something that was fully in their interests as working-class people. And thus the voter turnout from that sector was lower than we needed it to be.
DESVARIEUX: Alright. You also mentioned Mayor Yarber and what he ran on. I want to ask you: what interests does he represent?
AKUNO: Yeah. What Yarber represents is a neoliberal agenda, agenda of gentrification, and the forces who sponsored and support him are largely those kind of capital interests here in the state of Mississippi, particularly in the surrounding greater Jackson metro area. They threw in very heavily for his campaign. Republicans from the Tea Party and throughout the state and throughout the country, we know, put a lot of money directly into his campaign and into political action committees to support ads, to support mailings. So he really benefited from some of the recent Supreme Court rulings that allow all this money to come in, you know, unfettered and really unregulated in any substantial way.
But his agenda is to basically remove the black working-class element of the City of Jackson, and it's being disguised in kind of popular rhetoric saying he wants to get tough on crime, that criminals, quote-unquote, need to move out of Jackson or there's a new day in Jackson. So he's really planning on locking a tremendous amount of black youth, both men and women, up, and he's very open and frank about that. And that's one of the primary ways by which you're going to ultimately, if he's successful, sweep out large sectors of the black working-class to make room for a more pliable population that wants to come in and exploit the resources that Jackson is going to be securing and spending over the next ten years.
DESVARIEUX: Kali, you mentioned that you guys going to be doing a bit of soul-searching after this loss. Why do you feel like you weren't effectively able to communicate with that black working-class population and make them understand that your agenda was in their best interests? Rest of interview
To think this guy once had the keys to the city. The title of this post is appropriate: Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
24 comments:
I don't care what color a person is, you don't take an already failing city and put it in the hands of a young inexperienced person. I believe he would not have made decisions, they would have been made for him and by whom????
I believe that this may be the very last chance that this city has to survive. EVERYONE has got to work together and do what is right for EVERYONE. No special interests, no racially motivated actions, just plain good, postive decisions. The condition of Jackson is one of the saddest things I have ever seen. I grew up here and I know. I challenge our new Mayor and his administration to be color blind and just DO WHAT IS RIGHT, PLEASE!!!!!
Mel Blanc's Looney Tunes cartoon people are making little speeches. That's so cute. I love these cartoon names they have. Ali ke Tu Babble, Moham Pleaze, Abdu Lik Eyou AHolelot, Mo Ice Kareem, Sheik Andbake, Asahlama Mo Moneyz, Tirik Adik Adiki-dik.
"...remove the black, working class element from the city of Jackson..." by "...locking them up..."?
Really? That is stupid on so many levels.
Somebody give this guy an Amtrak schedule.
So, this clown thinks "criminals" = "black working class"?!? And they call Republicans the racists.
I guarantee you not one Tea Party member gave a dime to any candidate in this election. They may be wasting their money on that McDaniel guy, but they're not throwing it away in Jackson.
Also, unless a precinct is 100% black or 100% white, how does anyone know how many blacks or whites voted for a particular candidate?
That only thing I got out of that interview, was learning a few new words. (I had to look up the meaning of "gentrification.")
Everything else was crap!! This CLOWN said he worked for the the late mayor's administration, but can someone please tell me in what capacity? I didn't think village idiot was considered part of the "administration".
If Jackson had a "black working class" that outnumbered the "black walking around class" and/or the "black race baiting class," then it might be worth trying to save.
First question to ask Brother Kali is prove your election stats. He can't and you can bet your last impoverished intern that Donner won't either.
I'll bet a proctologist knows where those election numbers came from.
Akuno is Swahili for full of shit.
The blacks that I work with (i.e. the "black working class") hate the black criminal thugs as badly as any white person does. For him to equate the two is either terribly racist, or shows how truly out to space these Malcolm X/kush nuts are. Oh and every African American I work with that lives in jackson voted for yarber. So there you go "Brother" Akuno. You're just pissed because your little movement has been figured out, like the branch davidians! Except they had enough sense to drink the koolaid!
It's a good thing no one put up signs filled with hate speech code words like "Vote today, the future of Jackson depends on it." Then Kali-Ma would have had the smoking gun that proves Yarber is a neoliberal Tea Party tool!
These guys must be really upset that they were this close to establishing their fantasy black paradise homeland and the black voters told them to GTFO.
so the city has elected what appears to be a mayor who is supportive of all people who want to better the city, not just have the city throw money at one specific racial component. hmm- seems to me that thats the goal of racial reconciliation. the days of germination of the racist state of kush are over.
Whites had a 75% turnout?
um, I would gladly buy kali baba a one way ticket back to detroit.
I'm a bit worried about the person who wasn't familiar with the term " gentrification". I can't imagine what news sources you are reading to have missed that over the past decades. But, kudos for looking it up.
I cannot understand how inviting " low income" people from out of state contributes to anything other than making the plan look like it has more support than it actually does.
Nor, having planned events including those free to participants, can I fathom a $100000 price tag.
This sounds like a scam.
And, KF is right. One needs only to be able to add and subtract to know a 75% turnout of registered voters is simply a lie.
Many folks who don't have TRUTH on their side choose to LIE. They just start recreating or rewriting everything that pertains to the TRUTH.
Sad thing is their purpose is to deceive the poor, hopeless and uneducated people by feeding them these lies.
Shame on these self-centered, fake leaders from HELL. They are just filthy vermin and never have had any good thoughts for anyone but themselves and their mission.
9:53 am You are right.
That is exactly what the fake leaders of " cooperatives" in Detroit became...multi-million dollar enterprises with 5-9 employees.
Or, they became squatters on vacant properties making what was left of neighborhoods worse not better.
So far I have not been able to find any record of Brother Kali being registered to vote in Hinds County.
... they were this close to establishing their fantasy black paradise homeland ...
By raiding the treasury of the dwindling base of Jackson taxpayers.
Still waiting for Donner and the Jackson Fraud Press to share with her readership, microscopic as it may be, that Chokwe Antar lives in white majority NE Jackson behind the safe confines of a gated community.
Im having a hard time understandinghis point. Isnt the hope in an electionfor a strong voter turnout??? Why is it the "whites" fault the "blacks" failedto show up & vote. That's their fault & nobody else is to blame
The Yarber election is a prime example of the Wheel of Fortuna at work. Because Lumumba failed to inform the electorate after the primary that he was terminally ill and might not serve out his entire term, Yarber is now mayor. Rarely in life does one see the wheel turn so quickly.
Interesting to see how he shifted from blaming "neo-liberals" hellbent on gentrification to Tea-Party whites. I'm pretty sure those aren't the same thing, but whatever, it's fun to see neo-liberals become the new bogeymen. That's the JFP crowd, of course.
1:31 PM, Akuno is wrong on all aspects of his election recap. None of his claims can be supported by the actual vote totals nor campaign finance reports.
Anyone who knows who Kali Sheik Akuno is, please enlighten the rest of us. Why are his totally unsubstantiated allegations (the percentage of black and white voters) allowed to fall into print? Why is he anyone any person would listen to? This is trash and the person who wrote his words without challenging his assertions is a sad case.
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