OP-ED by Clifford Jackson
Jesse Jackson a civil rights/ human rights leader who was remembered around the world when he passed away this past February . Jesse Jackson was a human rights/ civil rights hero that affirmed the humanity of black people that has been denied in this country from its inception.
He was born in Greenville, South Carolina in the bastion of American Aparthied and segregation. He was born the same year as Emmett Till and was impacted by the barbaric and savage killing of him by white supremacists in 1955.
He had to attend racially segregated schools in Greenville and was taught that he had to go to the back of the bus. Jesse Jackson was an example of how the youth are important as far as keeping civilization alive. He was a very talented athlete receiving an offer to play for a professional minor league baseball team as well as a football scholarship .
He transferred from a white university to a black college because of the racism and discrimination that he especially experienced as an athlete which jumpstarted his activism and human rights efforts in this country. He started working for Martin Luther king jr . He marched in the Selma voting rights demonstration along with James Baldwin facing the brutality and racism of the Alabama state police.
He was at the Lorraine motel in Memphis Tennessee and was there when Martin Luther king jr was assassinated with that iconic image of he , Ralph Bethany. Andrew young pointing to the area where the assassins bullet came from, as Dr. king lies on the balcony mortally wounded.
Jesse Jackson knew that the torch had been passed down to him from Dr. King to continue the struggle for dignity and equality. “Operation Breadbasket” has helped millions of black and brown people gain entrance in this country economically and politically because it forced corporate America to hire and give better wages to people of color that had been denied them for decades.
Whether it was advocating the Humphrey-Hawkins full employment congressional bill in 1975 or the plight of black South Africans under the brutal occupation of P. W. Botha and F. W. De Clerk, Jesse Jackson was there advocating and fighting for the humanity and dignity of all people especially the marginalized.
Jackson contravened the traditional black Baptist church with his vociferous advocacy of the lgbtq plus community throughout his life. Many of the laws that support the lgbtq community that are being assailed today were promoted and passed because of Jesse Jackson’s sense of humanity. He did this in an environment of homophobia that has been entrenched within the black church for generations .
The ” Rainbow Coalition ” was in the tradition of Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison as well as the human human rights struggle throughout the history of this country. The struggle for human rights has always, as Jesse Jackson clearly understood, been a multi racial, multi ethnic and inclusive of all genders in this country.
I had the opportunity to see Jesse Jackson during his 1988 presidential campaign when I lived in Co-op City in the Bronx, and he made a speech there . His speech and tonality conveyed an advocacy and care for the marginalized and downtrodden.
When Willie Mays retired in 1973 it was Jesse Jackson who came to shea stadium to give a powerful speech, wearing a dashiki, paying homage to the former San Francisco giant.
Jesse Jackson was accused by his detractors of ” race hustling”. Jesse Jackson was not a race hustler. He was a human rights giant that advocated that all of the children of Jesus of Nazarene should be treated with dignity and respect. His constant refrain, especially to the black and brown community that ” I am somebody” was a direct contradiction to Americas racist and criminal history that black and brown people were NOBODY that had no history .
In his concession speech at the democratic convention in 1984 & 88′, he lost the democratic nominations for president to Walter Mondale and to Michael Dukakis respectively, Jackson said ” that no matter how low you might feel , no matter how much you are degraded , no matter how poor and lonely you might be you are a human being with dignity and that will always have the support of Jesse Jackson”.
Jesse Jackson made a difference in this country he is one of the reasons why me Clifford Jackson was able to transition from a low income housing project called the Robert F Wagner houses in east Harlem 52 years ago, to 16 years later moving to Larchmont where I have lived for the last 36 years. Rest well Jesse Jackson and thank you!!
Clifford Jackson, Larchmont
