MISSISSIPPI RISING COALITION holds the view that the quality of life and well-being of Mississippi residents and the progress of our state are directly related to social, political and environmental factors, and these factors can be directly and positively impacted by our efforts.
As a guide to direct MRC’s organizational projects, initiatives and alliances, we have chosen to use the indicators of social progress as outlined and measured by the Social Progress Imperative in its Social Progress Index: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Well-being and Opportunity.
Basic Human Needs
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Access to medical care
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Personal and community safety
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Safe, health & sustainable housing
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Access to clean water and sanitation, clean air & healthy food
Foundations of Well-being
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Access to communications and information
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Personal and community health & wellness
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Ecosystem resilience & sustainability
Opportunity
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Equal civil rights & protections
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Personal freedom and choice
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Equity & inclusion
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Access to education & living wage jobs
Protect & Resist
We must protect our most vulnerable communities from state and vigilante violence and exploitation in all its forms- including incarceration, gentrification, medical violence, social control, food apartheid, environmental degradation, police and ICE violence and harassment and policy violence resulting in neglect, disinvestment, pollution and impoverishment of Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+ and low-income communities. We will organize grassroots resistance when violence and exploitation is encountered.
Dismantle & Build
We must dismantle violent systems of exploitation and oppression- including white supremacy, cisheteropatriarchy and exploitation of workers and the Earth- and build new political, social and economic systems grounded in racial and gender equity, environmental sustainability, people-centered power and care for the public good. We will do this through community building and organizing around increasing the minimum wage and the power of labor unions; universal healthcare; equitable and adequate funding for public education that does not perpetuate racialized and gendered propaganda propping up white supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy; access to safe and affordable housing; food sovereignty and security; a clean and safe environment; equitable distribution of capital and public investment and preservation, promotion and integration of cultural diversity and the arts.
Bottom-up community organizing, popular education, mutual aid, direct action and coalition building emerge as shared strategies needed to effect the systemic change necessary to create these conditions.
