Cooperation Jackson on how to build an alternative economy for people of colour

Dorset gets a visit from Kali Akuno, director of a growing community of cooperatives in Mississippi

Akuno leads a residential in Dorset for people to learn how to replicate the work of Cooperation Jackson in the UK (Hazel Sheffield)

Kali Akuno was in Soweto, South Africa, with Winnie Mandela the day the planes crashed into the Twin Towers.

Mrs Mandela had recognised Akuno, the son of black activists in the US, and invited him to join her tour. When a security detail tried to drag him away to look at a television, Akuno first thought he was looking at the album cover for his friend’s band, The Coup, which showed the rappers stood in front of the exploding towers.

“I thought, ‘My buddy is on CNN – he’s getting really famous!’” Akuno remembers. Then he realised what was truly happening. “Overnight, everything changed.”