Jackson is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Along with Raymond, Jackson is one of two county seats for Hinds County. The city had a population of 153,701 at the 2020 census, a significant decline from 173,514, or 11.42%, since the 2010 census, representing the largest decline in population during the decade of any major U.S. city. Jackson is the anchor for the Jackson metropolitan statistical area, the largest metropolitan area located entirely in the state and the tenth-largest urban area in the Deep South. With a 2020 population of nearly 600,000, metropolitan Jackson is home to over one-fifth of Mississippi's population. The city sits on the Pearl River and is located in the greater Jackson Prairie region of Mississippi. Jackson is the only city in Mississippi with a population exceeding 100,000 people.
Baton Rouge is the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it had a population of 227,470 as of 2020; it is the seat of Louisiana's most populous parish (county-equivalent), East Baton Rouge Parish, and the center of Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Baton Rouge.
Southern University and A&M College is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and the flagship institution of the Southern University System. Its campus encompasses 512 acres, with an agricultural experimental station on an additional 372-acre site, five miles north of the main campus on Scott's Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section of Baton Rouge.
Harvey Johnson Jr., is an American politician from Mississippi. He was elected in 1997 as the first African American Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, serving two terms. He was known for his achievements in gaining reinvestment in the city to revitalize downtown.
The Chokwe people, known by many other names, are a Bantu ethnic group of Central and Southern Africa. They are found primarily in Angola, southwestern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern parts of Zambia.
Louisiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in south-central Louisiana, the district contains most of the state capital of Baton Rouge, the bulk of Baton Rouge's suburbs, and continues south to Thibodaux. It also includes the western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
Akinyele Umoja is an American educator and author who specializes in African-American studies. As an activist, he is a founding member of the New Afrikan People's Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. In April 2013, New York University Press published Umoja's book We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement. Currently, he is a Professor and Department Chair of the Department of African-American Studies at Georgia State University (GSU).
The foundation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, dates to 1721, at the site of a bâton rouge or "red stick" Muscogee boundary marker. It became the state capital of Louisiana in 1849.
Imari Obadele was a Black nationalist, advocate for reparations, and president of the Republic of New Afrika.
Chokwe Lumumba was an American attorney, activist, and politician, who was affiliated with the black separatist organization Republic of New Afrika and served as its second vice president. He served as a human rights lawyer in Michigan and Mississippi. In 2013, after serving on the City Council, he was elected as Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.
Tony Yarber is an American pastor, educator and politician in Jackson, Mississippi. He was elected as Mayor of Jackson in April 2014 from special election following the death in office of Chokwe Lumumba. A native of Jackson and experienced city councilor, Yarber is noted for his passion for youth causes, and has been described as "a consensus builder". He was succeeded as Mayor of Jackson by his predecessor's son Chokwe Antar Lumumba on July 3, 2017.
African-American self-determination refers to efforts to secure self-determination for African-Americans and related peoples in North America. It often intersects with the historic Back-to-Africa movement and general Black separatism, but also manifests in present and historic demands for self-determination on North American soil, ranging from autonomy to independence. The freedom to make whatever choices as a free American, and willfulness to do for self are often a key demand for advocates of African-American self-determination.
Rodnette Bethley Edwards, known as Ronnie Edwards, was an African-American Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 29 in West and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. She served for 44 days but did not actually assume the duties of her office because she was in the final stages of a two-year struggle with pancreatic cancer.
Chokwe Antar Lumumba is an American attorney, activist, and politician serving as the 53rd mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, the 7th consecutive African-American to hold the position.
Ivory Achebe Toldson is an American academic and author. He is a professor of Counseling Psychology at Howard University, national director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Negro Education, and executive editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Research, published by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. He is formally the president of Quality Education for Minorities. He served as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCUs) under President Barack Obama.
Nah Dove is an author, lecturer and scholar in African-American studies. She has lived in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Canada, the UK, and in the US, where she is an assistant professor instruction in the department of Africology and African American studies at the college of liberal arts, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Charles Tillman is an American politician who served on the Jackson, Mississippi City council for twelve years and as acting mayor after the death of Chokwe Lumumba, becoming the 5th consecutive African-American mayor of the city.
The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) is an organization that advocates for financial compensation for the descendants of former slaves in the United States.
Dara Abubakari was an activist and advocate for Pan-African organizing and black nation-building. She was an important member of a number of organizations, including the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the Communist Party, and the Universal Association of Ethiopian Women. In later decades, she emerged as a key leader in groups such as the Republic of New Africa and the Revolutionary Action Movement. Through her guidance, these organizations helped inspire and influence the next generation of activists with their Pan-African political vision and dedication to activism.
