* Earlier this week…
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network, joined Rev. Jesse Jackson and his sons, Congressman Jonathan Jackson and Yusef Jackson, on the stage at the Democratic National Convention for a special tribute to the Rainbow PUSH founder four decades after his historic runs for the presidency in 1984 and 1988.
“Rev. Jesse Jackson paved the way for President Obama and now Vice President Harris to reach the most powerful position on Earth,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of NAN. “When Rev. Jackson first sought the nomination 36 years ago, he did so with the vision and knowledge that one day a Black man or woman would serve as President of the United States. It is not only a blessing and honor, but also fitting on the first night of the DNC to pay tribute to a man who has devoted his life to making nominating a Black-Asian woman for the presidency possible.”
Some video is here.
* This is from Rev. Jackson’s 1984 “Rainbow Coalition” speech at the Democratic National Convention…
My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected, and the despised. They are restless and seek relief. They’ve voted in record numbers. They have invested faith, hope and trust that they have in us. The Democratic Party must send them a signal that we care. I pledge my best to not let them down. […]
Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow - red, yellow, brown, black and white - and we’re all precious in God’s sight.
America is not like a blanket - one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt - many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt.
Even in our fractured state, all of us count and all of us fit somewhere. We have proven that we can survive without each other, but we have not proven that we can win and progress without each other. We must come together.
* And from his 1988 DNC “Keep hope alive” address…
Most poor people are not lazy. They are not black. They are not brown. They are mostly White and female and young. But whether White, Black or Brown, a hungry baby’s belly turned inside out is the same color– color it pain, color it hurt, color it agony.
Most poor people are not on welfare. Some of them are illiterate and can’t read the want-ad sections. And when they can, they can’t find a job that matches the address. They work hard every day. I know, I live amongst them. They catch the early bus. They work every day. They raise other people’s children. They work every day.
They clean the streets. They work every day. They drive dangerous cabs. They change the beds you slept in in these hotels last night and can’t get a union contract. They work every day.
No, no, they’re not lazy. Someone must defend them because it’s right and they cannot speak for themselves. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commodes. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right. We are a better nation than that!
Not long after the convention that year, my best friend Brian Monahan and I drove through the South Side at like 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning. Black people were waiting at just about every bus stop for miles to go north. “They catch the early bus,” is a line that has stuck with me ever since.
Rev. Jackson is a human being. He has his faults. But I wanted to use this opportunity to thank him for his service to our country.
- H-W - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 8:35 am:
Rev. Jackson has made America a better place to live.
I met him in Decatur when I taught at Millikin University. He came to town because a high school fight turned into seven students being expelled for two years - a death sentence in terms of high school education. I met Rev. Jackson at a church service his first night in town, where he reasoned well that the two-year expulsion of young teenagers was the equivalence of a permanent expulsion - an abandonment of their potential to become of citizens and to learn to serve our communities. Causing greater harm to children in order to “teach a lesson” to other children represents the proverbial race to the bottom.
Ironically, I also went to the COGIC Church to meet the man my mother knew when they were both growing up in Greenville, SC, and of whom she had great respect. It was the racial justice background of my mother’s that contributed to my becoming a scholar of racial and ethnic relations as I came of age. So meeting the man in my later years was an ironic twist of fate.
If his memory serves our nation half as well as Rev. Jackson did himself, we will remain a blessed nation. Thank you indeed, Rev. Jackson.
- New Day - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 8:46 am:
Sorry, but I can never canonize Jesse. He was not a person of integrity. He was a greenmailer who extorted countless companies. I also can’t forget nor will I forgive his anti-Semitism - remember his calling New York hymietown?
Don’t know whether Rich will leave up this comment, but to say his legacy is mixed would be putting it kindly.
- low level - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 9:13 am:
Great post, Rich. I really didnt care for the Reverend at first but in retrospect can appreciate the positive impact he has had on American society. So true about the South Side early morning as well.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 9:25 am:
As I get older, one thing I have learned to accept is that it is the nature of the progressive movement for each successive generation to find fault with the previous generation, dismiss or denigrate their achievements, and accuse them of not having done enough of having done it all wrong.
That’s essentially the nature of Progress. If we were happy with the way things were done in 1975 or 1860, we would be Conservatives.
There is certainly plenty of fault to be found with Jesse Jackson the man.
My grandmother wrote candidly about those flaws after the 1988 Democratic Convention, including his antisemitic remarks. She also said that that while 1988 would not be the year that we kept the promise of America that all people from all walks of life are equal by electing the nation’s first Black president, she hoped that if not in her life than in her children’s life or grandchildren’s life, we would not only elect a Black American, but also a woman and an Asian American, which also had never happened.
And here we are. And although neither Obama nor Harris came from the Rainbow-PUSH movement, both of their campaigns rely on the vision, philosophy and the organizing strategy of Rainbow-PUSH and Rev. Jackson. Its hard to imagine Obama achieving the White House or Harris standing at its threshold without Jackson lighting the way.
I was lucky enough to hear Jackson speak at my university not long after the 1988 race. I still remember it as one of the greatest civil rights speeches of my life, both instuctive and motivational. He spoke on campus a year later, it was almost the same speech, and it still had the same effect. The man had skills, and he put me on my journey.
- Dragnet - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 9:39 am:
Another line delivered by Jackson that I will never forget is, “keep hope alive.” It became a foundational pillar of the party going forward and helped to define Obama’s platform of hope and change. It is being relied on heavily with the pivot to “hope and joy” for 2024- yes, he was a visionary. The two speeches cited are two of the best speeches I have ever seen delivered from a content and delivery standpoint. Today, I often hear the phrase, “hope is not a plan”. But I do believe hope can be the seed for a plan. I do not agree with all of the policies that Jackson has promoted over the years, but I have great respect for him and what he has contributed to America with his determination.
- Proud Papa Bear - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 9:39 am:
1988 was the first election I followed closely. I was 13 during the primaries and I remember my conservative Democratic parents were deeply concerned about Jackson’s early primary wins.
It took me decades to stop seeing racial issues through their eyes and I’ve come to develop an appreciation for Reverend Jackson’s work.
- West Sider - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 9:44 am:
Rev.Jackson is a first generation Apostle to Dr. King, Rev. Abernathy and Bayard Rustin. While in retrospect I wish Rev. Jackson had made choices which allowed Democrats to have been successful in ‘84 and ‘88, the pressure of leading a movement after the assassination of Dr. King must have been enormous. He has been a pastor, a leader, and a diplomat. I have tremendous respect for the Rev. Jackson and the good he has accomplished in his long life. His work may have often ruffled feathers, but it has helped us perfect our Union.
- Nick Name - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 10:05 am:
Well said. Thank you.
- Arsenal - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 10:07 am:
For awhile now I’ve thought that JJ’s reputation is a bit unfair. He certainly brought some of that upon himself, but he also picked a lot of righteous fights and should be praised for that.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 10:46 am:
Rev.Jackson was the first person I voted for in the Oklahoma primary when I came of voting age. Years later I got the chance to tell him that in person in a chance meeting in a Hyde Park bookstore.
- low level - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 11:01 am:
I appreciate how he addressed the notion that minorities are “lazy” and getting “free stuff”. So many people have this view. In reality, they work the hardest since they have more obstacles to overcome.
I always ask my idiot conservative friend where I can sign up for the “free money”. If its so prevalent, it must be easy to get. He can never answer me when I ask him where they are handing out all this “free stuff”. Figures.
- Google Is Your Friend - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 11:03 am:
- H-W - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 8:35 am:
A little “fun fact” for the ILGA crowd, Judge McCuskey, now the LIG, was the district court judge when there was a federal court action arising from the Decatur 7.
But going further on Rev. Jackson, he stuck with Courtney Carson, one of the students, and Carson is now Rev. Carson and served a term on the Decatur school board.
- Been There - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 11:17 am:
I agree the Reverend has some faults. Some that even conflict with what he says. But you cannot doubt he has been a great spokesperson for those that don’t have a voice.
I wasn’t really a fan until he was on Saturday Night Live. All he did was read Green Eggs and Ham. It’s classic.
https://vimeo.com/25249283
- Joe Bloe - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 11:20 am:
For you readers, a great book about Rev. Jackson is “Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson” by Marshall Frady.
- Huh? - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 11:59 am:
I never liked Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. I found them to be opportunistic because they would show up in turbulent places to get their picture in the paper and on the news. I could never figure out if they were effective at anything other than promoting themselves.
- Thomas Paine - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 12:23 pm:
@Huh? -
“Glory hound” is a label they tried slapping on Dr. King, Nelson Mandela, and Ghandi just to name a few.
When you are a leader of the disempowered, and you show up where there is trouble or maybe even create a little “good trouble” of your own, you are a self-promoter.
When you are Paul Vallas showing up with AWAKE Illinois, when you are Trump showing up with the NRA in Texas just days after Uvalde, or Pence at the National Right to Life march, you are just doing your job and expected to be there.
- Back to the Future - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 1:58 pm:
Remember 1968 and was part of the Singer-Jackson delegate success. Did not get arrested at either convention, but both conventions were something to be at.
It is clearly old news, but at times seems like it all happened yesterday.
Rev. Jackson was an exceptional speaker. He gave a speech before the Democratic Convention that had the delegates and other attendees on their feet cheering. Really something to see.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 4:38 pm:
Rev. Jesse Jackson loomed over my political career just as profoundly as Richard M. Daley or Mike Madigan. He was a constant presence, an influential leader, and like Daley and Madigan, someone to be careful of offending. As a young political person coming up in the late 1980s in Chicago, they were the permanent forces in my world. Thankfully I never ran afoul of any of them, nor did I align myself too closely with any.
And like Daley and Madigan, Jackson isn’t perfect, but his influence in Chicago cannot be overstated. He too was a political giant.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 4:39 pm:
Jesse Jackson put his life on the line for what he believed…I would ask his detractors if they did the same?
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 4:41 pm:
I have never fit in…anywhere.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Aug 22, 24 @ 6:37 pm:
There will never be another Jesse Jackson.