Shifting Focus: Organizing for an EcoSocialist Future

308 Westwood Plaza,Los Angeles CA 90095

11 April, 2023

Description

At this University of California Regents’ Lecture, Kali Akuno — organizer, educator, writer, and advocate for human rights and social justice — will lay out a path for protecting our precious planet by discarding capitalism in favor of an eco-socialist approach that employs the democratic tools of the solidarity economy. Leading climate scientists warn that we have less than 10 years to make a serious course correction to avert a catastrophic threat to the Earth’s life systems, including that of the human race. Working within the logic of the capitalist system, which depends on the need for constant growth, won’t work, Akuno says. Instead, he calls for a bottom-up transformation centered on the principles of decolonization, anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism, anti-heterosexism and degrowth. Kali Akuno is a co-founder and director of Cooperation Jackson, which is an emerging network of worker cooperatives and supporting institutions. Cooperation Jackson is fighting to create economic democracy by creating a vibrant solidarity economy in Jackson, MS that will help transform Mississippi and the South. You can find more information about Cooperation Jackson at www.CooperationJackson.org. Kali served as the Director of Special Projects and External Funding in the Mayoral Administration of the late Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, MS. His focus was supporting cooperative development, sustainability, human rights and international relations. Kali Akuno is an organizer, educator, and writer for human rights and social justice. He is the former Co-Director of the US Human Rights Network. Kali also served as the Executive Director of the Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) based in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. And was a co-founder of the School of Social Justice and Community Development (SSJCD), a public school serving the academic needs of low-income African American and Latino communities in Oakland, California. Kali is also the co-editor of "Jackson Rising: the Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, MS", and the author of numerous articles and pamphlets including the Jackson-Kush Plan: the Struggle for Black Self-Determination and Economic Democracy", "Until We Win: Black Labor and Liberation in the Disposable Era", "Operation Ghetto Storm: Every 28 Hours report" and "Let Your Motto Be Resistance: A Handbook on Organizing New Afrikan and Oppressed Communities for Self-Defense". LOCATIONUCLA Kerckhoff Hall Charles E Young Grand Salon (Walking Directions) Check-in begins at 5:30pm with the discussion following at 6:00pm. GUIDELINESRSVP required for admittance. Admission is free, but registration is required for each attendee. Parking Public transportation: Big Blue Bus, Culver CityBus 6, Metro Ridehailing locations: Gateway Plaza, Luskin Conference Center On-site parking available for $14 (Lot 4, Lot 8) The Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.