UB In Memoriam: Trailblazer Rev. Jesse L. Jackson

Today Tuesday February 17th, The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson passed away. He was 84.

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures.

Close to sixty years, Jesse played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice.

On August 9th, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Reverend Jackson has been called the “Conscience of the Nation” and “the Great Unifier,” challenging America to be inclusive and to establish just and humane priorities for the benefit of all. He is known for bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender and belief.

A civil rights activist, a reverend, a Presidential candidate, a politician, a father and a husband, America’s Living Leader, the unifier and conscience of the American people, Jesse Jackson was all that and more.

As a son conceived out of wedlock, Jesse Jackson mother Helen Burns Straggs gave birth to her son Jesse Louis Burns when she was sixteen at Greenville, South Carolina on October 18th, 1941.

His father was Noah Robinson, his mother’s neighbor who also was a boxer and a prominent figure in the community at that time.

Jesse Jackson father did not try to be a father to him as he was a married man when Helen bore him. Noah died in 1997.

Jesse’s mother married Charles Henry Jackson when Jesse Jackson was two and later, when the reverend was sixteen years old, adopted Jesse. Jesse Jackson since then used his stepfather’s surname.

Jesse Jackson learned early in his life how it is to be discriminated. He was often referred to by some kids as “Nobody with no daddy” which made the young reverend felt injustice.

Fortunately, the reverend’s Aunt Tibby was there to advice the young Jesse Jackson to not let bad situation break his spirit.

Jesse Jackson developed his ability to speak in public through his biological grandfather Reverend Jesse Robinson. He often spoke at the Baptist church where his grandfather founded.

Jesse Jackson attended a segregated high school in Greenville the Sterling High School. Jesse Jackson later finished high school tenth in his class.

He was an athlete and had earned a scholarship and decided to attend to University of Illinois over an offer to be on a professional baseball team.

He had thought that the University will offer an equal treatment on both white and black. Jesse Jackson was badly disappointed as he was unjustly treated as he was unable to play as he should have and join contests due to the rampant discrimination at the school.

This was why a year later he decided to transfer to Greensboro’s North Carolina A&T school for African American.

It was in college when Jesse Jackson found his passion in fighting for equality. He became student body president and later, as a senior, became a civil rights movement leader.

Jesse Jackson‘s youth was filled with racial injustice success stories. When he worked in a bakery where white workers have higher wages than the black worker, Jesse Jackson set up a protest that later on resulted to equal pay for both black and white workers.

When Jesse Jackson graduated in his BS in Sociology and Economics in 1964, his activist movements did not stop at school. Jesse Jackson pursued his civil rights advocacy for equality even when he attended Chicago Theological Seminary.

And even when he was ordained as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, his civil rights movement grew which later on landed him in the politics.

As a man who had experienced firsthand demonstration of racism, Jesse Jackson pushed and pushed until his voice was heard.

He began his theological studies at Chicago Theological Seminary but deferred his studies when he began working full-time in the Civil Rights Movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was ordained on June 30th, 1968 by Rev. Clay Evans and received his earned Master of Divinity degree from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2000.

For his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social change, Reverend Jackson received more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees and frequently lectures at major colleges and universities including Howard, Yale, Princeton, Morehouse, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Hampton.

He was made an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford University in the UK in November 2007, and received an Honorary Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, England. In March 2010, Reverend Jackson was inducted into England’s prestigious Cambridge Union Society.

In April 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

In October 1997, Reverend Jackson was appointed by President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as “Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa.” In this official position, Reverend Jackson traveled to several countries on the African continent and met with such national leaders as President Nelson Mandela.

His Excellency Daniel T. Arap Moi of Kenya, and President Frederick J.T. Chiluba of Zambia.

Reverend Jackson began his activism as a student in the summer of 1960 seeking to desegregate the local public library in Greenville and then as a leader in the sit-in movement. In 1965, he became a full-time organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

He was soon appointed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to direct the Operation Breadbasket program. In December of 1971, Reverend Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) in Chicago, IL.

The goals of Operation PUSH were economic empowerment and expanding educational, business and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged and people of color.

In 1984, Reverend Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization based in Washington, D.C devoted to political empowerment, education and changing public policy.

In September of 1996, the Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH merged to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to continue the work of both organizations and to maximize resources. Long before national health care, a war on drugs, direct peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, ending apartheid in South Africa and advancing democracy in Haiti became accepted public policy positions, Reverend Jesse Jackson advocated them.

Reverend Jackson’s advocacy on these and other issues helped bring the American public to a new level of consciousness.

Reverend Jackson’s two presidential campaigns broke new ground in U.S. politics.

His 1984 campaign registered over one million new voters, won 3.5 million votes, and helped the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in 1986.

His 1988 campaign registered over two million new voters, won seven million votes, and helped boost hundreds of state and local elected officials into office.

Additionally, he won historic victories, coming in first or second in 46 out of 54 primary contests. His clear progressive agenda and his ability to build an unprecedented coalition inspired millions to join the political process.

In 1991, Reverend Jesse Jackson was elected Senator of Washington, D.C., advocating for statehood for the nation’s capital and advancing the “rainbow” agenda at the national and international levels.

After he continued to promote voter registration and lead campaigns, believing that everyone should be encouraged to be a responsible, informed and active voter.

He spearheaded major organizing tours through Appalachia, Mississippi, California and Georgia.

Reverend Jackson also supported a broad range of policies to improve education, eliminate poverty, and remind everyone that we are a “One-Big-Tent-America,” with room for all, and none left in the margins.

As a highly respected and trusted world leader, Reverend Jackson acted many times as an international diplomat in sensitive situations.

For example, in 1984 Reverend Jackson secured the release of captured Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman from Syria, and the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners in Cuba.

He was the first American to bring home citizens from the UK, France and other countries held as “human shields” by Saddam Hussein in Kuwait and Iraq in 1990.

In 1999, Reverend Jackson negotiated the release of U.S. soldiers held hostage in Kosovo.

In August 2000, Rev. Jackson helped negotiate the release of four journalists working on a documentary for Britain’s Channel 4 network held in Liberia.

He traveled extensively in the Middle East and Asia, and was a special guest of President Fernando Cardoso of Brazil in honoring Zumbi, the leader of slave revolts that led to the end of slavery in Brazil.

On November 2nd, 1985, Reverend Jackson joined with Oliver Tambo, Bishop Trevor Huddleston, Ken Livingston, Bernie Grant, Keith Vaz, Paul Boateng, Diane Abbot (who would become MP) and others at the 120,000-strong demonstration in London’s Trafalgar Square to protest apartheid in South Africa and call on the South African government to free Nelson Mandela.

He later met with PM Margaret Thatcher, appealing to her to drop Britain’s support for apartheid.

In February 16th, 2003, Rev. Jesse Jackson keynoted the rally held in London’s Hyde Park with over 1 million people protesting the expected invasion of Iraq by the United States.

In August 2007, Equanomics-UK invited Rev. Jackson to help launch the new organization in a historic nine city UK tour: London-Bristol-Liverpool-Manchester-Leicester-NottinghamBradford-Sheffield-Birmingham.

The tour coincided with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act in Britain, including the official London GLA ceremony with Mayor Ken Livingston.

At the conclusion of the tour, Rev. Jackson joined international dignitaries in the unveiling of the statue of Nelson Mandela in London’s Parliament Square.

In 2009, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown bestowed the “Global Diversity and Inclusion Award” on Rev. Jackson at 10 Downing Street.

In January 2008, Rev. Jackson delivered the international keynote address on the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi at an event in New Delhi, India marking the 50th anniversary of Gandhi’s martyrdom.

The global event celebrated the strength of non-violent, peaceful protest that Gandhi demonstrated in his uncompromising quest for peace and justice.

A hallmark of Reverend Jackson’s work has been his commitment to youth. He visited thousands of high schools, colleges, universities and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring hope and challenging young people to study diligently and stay drug-free.

Reverend Jackson was also a consistent and vigorous supporter of the labor movement in the U.S. and around the world.

He is known as someone who has walked more picket lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national leader. He worked with unions to organize workers, protect workers’ rights, and mediate labor disputes.

In 1996, he traveled to Asia to investigate treatment of workers in the Japanese automobile industry and in athletic apparel factories in Indonesia.

A renowned orator and activist, Reverend Jackson received numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social change.

In 1991, the U.S. Post Office put his likeness on a pictorial postal cancellation, only the second living person to receive such an honor.

He was on the Gallup List of the Ten Most Respected Americans for more than a dozen years.

He received the prestigious NAACP Spingarn Award and received the 2024 Champion of Justice Award at the Ben Crump Equal Justice Awards.

In addition to honors from hundreds of grassroots, civic and community organizations from coast to coast.

From 1992 to 2000, Reverend Jackson hosted “Both Sides With Jesse Jackson” on CNN.

He wrote a weekly column of analysis by the Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times.

Jesse is the author of two books: “Keep Hope Alive” (1989), and “Straight From the Heart” (1987).

In 1996, Reverend Jackson coauthored the books “Legal Lynching: Racism, Injustice,” and the “Death Penalty” (1996) and “It’s About The Money” (1999) with his son, U.S. Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1963.

They have five children: Santita Jackson, Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Luther Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Esq., and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, Jr.

In 2022, UB Co-Sponsored Ben Crump’s Equal Justice Awards

Rev. Jesse Jackson took to the stage at the end of the night, to address the attendees and lead us in prayer. The absolute highlight of the evening.

UB appreciated Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mario Van Peebles, for stating and pointing out multiple times..how important Black Press is!

UB Spotlight: ‘2nd Annual Benjamin Crump Equal Justice Now Awards’ | UB Sponsored

Favorite UB Jesse Jackson Quotes

A man must be willing to die for justice. Death is an inescapable reality and men die daily, but good deeds live forever.

Our dreams must be stronger than our memories. We must be pulled by our dreams, rather than pushed by our memories.

I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet.

When everyone is included, everyone wins.

It is in struggle and service with our brothers and sisters, individually and collectively, that we find the meaning of life.

America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth.

The burden of being black is that you have to be superior just to be equal. But the glory of it is that, once you achieve, you have achieved, indeed.

America needs young people to be inspired to choose sacrifice over greed.

If you try you may fail, if you don’t try you’re guaranteed to fail.

The only time you should look down at someone, is when you are helping them up.

It’s not enough to be quiet. Quietness is the absence of noise. We need peace, the presence of justice and to be – and so people here can coexist and live together.