GospelCity Black History Month Salute to Political Figures

If all goes in his favor, Barack Obama could very well be the U.S.’s first black president, but certainly not the last as he demonstrates and proselytizes the audacity of a much-needed and overdue hope.

Jesse Jackson

“Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change.”

Born to a single, teen mother in Greenville, South Carolina, Jesse Jackson received a football scholarship at the racially integrated University of Illinois. A year later, he transferred to the historically black North Carolina A & T University, where he became a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. In 1968, he was ordained as a Baptist minister in Chicago, Illinois.

Martin Luther King, Jr. selected Jackson to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, and a year later Jackson was appointed national director of the organization. Jackson would gain further notoriety and attention as being with Dr. King on the day of his assassination, April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

After constant clashes with Ralph Abernathy, King’s predecessor, Jackson would leave the SCLC in 1971 to found and organize Operation Push, which was widespread in support because of its youth consciousness. In 1984, Jackson would organize the National Rainbow Coalition to forge his political interests and fund his social activism.

Running as a Democrat, Jesse Jackson became the second African American (Shirley Chisholm was first) to forge a nationwide campaign for the office of president of the United States in 1984. Considered a fringe candidate, Jackson surprised opponents by finishing third in the campaign. In 1988, he reemerged as a presidential candidate and more than doubled his previous wins and presenting himself as a formidable and serious opponent. The nomination would go to Michael Dukakis who was defeated that fall by George Bush in the general election.

Jesse Jackson continues his activism and resides in Chicago, Illinois, where his son, Jesse Jr. is a U. S. Congressman.