Dave Kresta
After spending the morning touring the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson on a recent Sunday morning, I was in an understandably somber mood. I was shocked out of my disgust and confusion when later that afternoon I attended the Working Together Jackson “Refounding Convention,” where over 500 energized and engaged community leaders and organizers reconfirmed their commitment to economic and social justice for all in Jackson.
For example, Revitalize Mississippi has teamed up with the Rosemont M.B. Church to implement a multi-pronged strategy that includes vacant property cleanup, development of parks and gardens, and the acquisition of over 100 lots to create a community land trust for long-term housing affordability. New Horizons Church in South Jackson is acquiring and renovating vacant homes, with the goal of relocating 200 families back into a stronger, revitalized community. The Jackson community faces significant challenges, but it is strong, and growing stronger together as they are drawn forward toward John Perkin’s vision and plea to “let justice roll down like waters…” (Amos 5:23).
It was against this backdrop that the Neighborhood Economics conference kicked off later that Sunday evening in Jackson. In fact, Neighborhood Economics planned the conference in Jackson just after Working Together Jackson Refounding because Working Together Jackson already works in this ecosystem and made many important connections for Neighborhood Economics.
Unlike most conferences that parachute into cities and then fly off to the next, the organizers worked closely with the community beforehand to ensure positive impacts during the event and positive “aftershocks” that could, perhaps, move mountains. Dr. Shonda Allen Hill, Regional Organizer for Working Together Mississippi, was an instrumental partner, providing on the ground organizing and outreach, resulting in nearly 40% of conference registrants being from Jackson.
“This event showcased the positive energy and hope that we all are experiencing, even on the heels of natural and man-made disasters that dominate the news headlines in Mississippi,” Hill said.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Jackson, like all disenfranchised communities, doesn’t need help. Hill continued: “This event brought together organizations with a common value system grounded in economic and social justice. They already get it, now we have a chance to make good on the connections and bring capital where it is sorely needed.”
The aftershocks grew stronger as Hill convened a follow-up meeting with 40 of the 60 from Jackson who attended the event. Two work groups were formed and will carry on the work: the first, church empowerment, has already submitted four pre-applications to the United Church of Christ Building and Loan Fund (CB&LF) for church-based development and redevelopment projects.
Patrick Duggan, Executive Director of the CB&LF, attended the Neighborhood Economics Jackson event and was impressed with not only the resilience but the imagination he saw from the faith community. “The work we are seeing here in Jackson is countering the general narrative of church decline,” he said.
The work that started with Neighborhood Economics Jackson will continue with the church empowerment working group and be further ignited when CB&LF brings their Partners in Building Conference to Jackson on September 21-22, 2023.
Kevin Jones, Curator/Innovator at Neighborhood Economics, observes that “what used to be called ‘church building funds’ are now ‘neighborhood revitalization funds’. Before we got to Jackson, we worked with the local churches to develop asset maps with square footage, mortgage, deferred maintenance and other encumbrances. Bringing institutional investors into the room like we did at the event will help the grassroots housing and community efforts of Jackson’s Black churches get to scale faster, while keeping the control local.”
Steve Dubb of Nonprofit Quarterly attended the event and highlighted the many institutional investors and funders who were at the table, including Cornerstone Fund, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Kellogg Foundation , Justice Capital, Impact Assets, Irvine Foundation, MacArthur, Heron and Surdna Foundations more.
The second work group of the local participants in Neighborhood Economics Jackson will focus on small business development, helping local businesses reach the next stage in their growth through technical assistance, in partnership with Fortune 500 firm Edward Jones. Sulayman Nyang Jr., CEPA and financial advisor with Edward Jones, attended Neighborhood Economics Jackson, and, as a result, invited Hill to attend their entrepreneur training program. Hill has already started the training and now plans to bring it to the entrepreneurs of Jackson.
While the conference highlighted the energy and imagination already brewing in Jackson, Monica Cannon, Director of Community Outreach for Midtown Partners, Inc. also appreciated hearing from those outside of Mississippi: “I was so encouraged to see examples from other cities that grabbed my heart and reassured me that change is possible.”
She attended several breakouts, including one on Turnaround Tuesday, a workforce development program for “returning” citizens, as well as a viewing of It Takes a Village, a film celebrating the Village at West Jefferson in Louisville, KY, built on a former church parking lot. “We are already making plans with our partners to implement Turnaround Tuesday here in Jackson, and I’m scheming to do a site visit to West Jefferson because we can totally do something like that here in Jackson!”
Finally, I witnessed the power of convenings like Neighborhood Economics to root the entrepreneurial spirit in place. During one of the last breakout sessions of the event, I was prepared to hear from the stellar panel of local and national experts on “Replicating Economic Ecosystems.” About 15 minutes into the session, Essence Wallace-Odomes, CEO/Executive Producer at The Chosen Entertainment & Media, raised her hand and shared her and husband/business partner Dezron’s desire to start Jackson’s first film studio. After working in the film and TV industry in Atlanta, they decided to return to Jackson and see if the economic opportunities they saw there could be brought to Jackson. I can only describe what happened next as a “tsunami of support”, as audience members asked questions and offered not just ideas, but genuine encouragement along with solid connections to help Essence and Dezron pursue their dream.
“What we experienced at Neighborhood Economics literally changed our lives,” Wallace-Odomes shared. “We honestly were thinking that maybe we should return to Atlanta, because Jackson just doesn’t have the ecosystem in place to see our vision through. But we went from thinking about simply starting a business to thinking about community impact and having a greater sense of purpose for our assignment in Jackson.”
Both Wallace-Odomes envision a “Studio City” built around the arts and entertainment industry, with an emphasis on local ownership and control of creative assets, workforce development, and support for creatives. While they are still working through all the connections that they established at Neighborhood Economics, they are already actively working with several organizations who have offered support to find a CEO mentor, establish an arts investment fund, and create an economic development plan through Jackson State University’s Center for Social Entrepreneurship.
Will justice, and capital, roll down like water in Jackson? Of course, justice works on a long arc, but with people like Hill, and the Odomes driving change, and with thoughtful outsiders bringing encouragement, ideas, and yes, capital, we can expect to see a bit more of heaven on earth in Jackson.