Jesse Jackson

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (b. 8 October 8 1941) is an influential American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician. He was born to Helen Burns and Noah Robinson in Greenville, South Carolina. His mother eventually married Charles Jackson, who later adopted and gave him a new last name. Jackson made historic strides as an African American candidate in his notable bids for the US presidency in 1984 and 1988. These presidential campaigns elevated the role of Blacks in politics—evidenced by Jackson’s status as the first African American to participate in a presidential debate and by successful voter registration campaigns. Jackson’s earliest civil rights action occurred in 1960 when he and seven other students led a sit-in at the segregated Greenville Public Library. Jackson attended the University of Illinois and later transferred to North Carolina A&T, where he became student body and chapter president of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He also became active in conventional politics, joined the Young Democrats of North Carolina, and worked for North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford. Intent on becoming a minister, Jackson enrolled in Chicago Theological Seminary. During this period, his life changed drastically after meeting Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 while participating in the Selma to Montgomery marches for voting rights. Dr. King appointed Jackson as the national director of Operation Breadbasket, a component of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s economic opportunities program. After Dr. King’s assassination, Jackson left the SCLC and established Operation PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, in 1971. In 1984, he created a “Rainbow Coalition” of marginalized groups to fight for human rights and gain a voice in politics. Jackson is renowned for his oratory and expert negotiating skills, marked by his many successful hostage negotiations, including the release of Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman from Syria during the 1984 presidential election campaign. He is most well known for one of his most recited phrases, “I Am Somebody.” Later in his career, Jackson launched an annual Wall Street conference in partnership with the New York Stock Exchange, brokered deals with corporations to invest in Black communities, authored several books, and hosted a CNN weekly TV show titled “Both Sides with Jesse Jackson.” President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in November 2017, he remains one of the most noted leaders of civil rights and global affairs.