Portside

500 peopled attended the weekend Jackson Rising conference earlier this month, conceived of by Chokwe Lumumba. Making use of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to run as an independent in the Democratic primary, he defeated the incumbent and forced a runoff. Given that Jackson is an 80% Black city, he then won overwhelmingly. So when he died suddenly and his supporters in a state of shock, the opposition moved quickly to counterattack.

There's a growing population of people who have to make ridiculous choices between paying for food or paying for rent or paying for health care - basic necessities. There's actually a need for us right now to create a whole new generation of smart policies. The fight for raising the minimum wage and all these wage campaigns are actually part of creating a long-term vision around what economic democracy looks like and needs to be.

Historian Mark Solomon looks at the prospects for a new socialist left.