Geoff Bennett:
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, died peacefully this morning at the age of 84. He’s being remembered for his decades of activism.
His family wrote, in part: “Our father was a servant leader, not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world.”
From the civil rights movement of the 1960s, to protesting police brutality some six decades later…
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Founder, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition:
We’re all precious in God’s sight.
Geoff Bennett:
… Jesse Jackson was one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights activists and a political pioneer. His historymaking bids for the White House in the 1980s sparked a movement.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
I see the face of America, red, yellow, brown, Black, and white. We’re all precious in God’s sight, the real rainbow coalition.
Geoff Bennett:
Jesse Jackson was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, where he attended racially segregated schools. His first major protest was in 1960, where he was one of eight students to organize a sit-in at the local whites-only library.
While attending North Carolina A&T, a historically Black institution, he continued to participate in protests against segregated businesses. After graduating, he moved to Chicago to attend Chicago Theological Seminary. He eventually dropped out to focus on the civil rights movement.
During this time, he met and worked with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson was one of hundreds who marched from Selma to Montgomery, and soon after began organizing in Chicago for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson grew close to Dr. King and soon became a member of his inner circle.
On the night of Dr. King’s assassination, Jackson was in Memphis with him and witnessed the shooting. The moment would shape the rest of his career.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
He dreamed not just of the privatized notion of content of character, rather than color of skin. He dreamed of the public policy notion of once we change the law. He used his faith to challenge the law.
Geoff Bennett:
After Dr. King’s death, Jackson was involved in multiple debates and disputes over how to approach the future of the civil rights movement.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
We’re going to be shot in the back anyhow!
Geoff Bennett:
He eventually left the SCLC to launch his own organization, Operation PUSH, dedicated to improving economic conditions in Black communities across the country.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
We are displeased. We do not like it. Cut us in or cut it out.
Geoff Bennett:
The group received national attention for pressuring major corporations to hire more African Americans, sometimes by threatening boycotts.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
I’m simply challenging the party.
Geoff Bennett:
Jackson decided to step away from the group in the early 1980s to influence policy in a different way, running to lead the country. In 1983, he announced his first campaign for the White House. His campaign, he said, was not solely about winning the nomination, but about fighting for the rights of a diverse so-called rainbow coalition of Americans.
Rev. Jesse Jackson:
America is more like a quilt, many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.
Geoff Bennett:
While detractors wrote him off as a fringe candidate, he finished in third place in the Democratic primaries. He announced a second bid for the White House in 1988 and found more success. Jackson won primaries and caucuses in 11 states and refused to exit the race until the convention.
He ultimately finished second in the race. It was the first time a Black candidate was widely viewed as a viable contender for the presidency.
Former “PBS News Hour” co-anchor the late Gwen Ifill covered him for The Washington Post.
Gwen Ifill, Former “PBS News Hour” Anchor: The most disorganized, exhilarating, inventive campaign ever, because he would just show up places and could attract crowds.
Geoff Bennett:
Jackson remained a prominent presence in American politics, serving as one of Washington, D.C.’s first shadow senators, a position that primarily advocated for D.C. statehood. He also frequently met with foreign leaders.
He negotiated the release of dozens of hostages during wars and conflicts, often without approval from presidents or Congress. In 2007, when fellow Chicago Democrat Barack Obama announced a bid for the White House, Jackson endorsed him. Their relationship grew complicated at times over the course of the campaign.
But at Obama’s victory rally, Jackson was in tears over the historic election of the country’s first Black president. Jesse Jackson’s family followed in his political footsteps. One of his sons, Jesse Jackson Jr., represented Illinois in Congress for more than 15 years, before stepping down in 2012 after being accused and eventually convicted of defrauding campaign donors.
Another son, Jonathan Jackson, now represents Illinois in Congress. Jackson had several health concerns in recent years. He was hospitalized in November to treat the neurodegenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP, initially diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease in 2017.
But despite the health setbacks, Jesse Jackson continued his advocacy work, including participating in Black Lives Matter protests and getting arrested during demonstrations and sit-ins in support of social justice issues.
#Jesse #Jacksons #decades #civil #rights #advocacy
