BY: Keith S. Shikowitz
Jesse Jackson famed civil rights activist and clergyman died today at age 84. He was a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. He later studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 2000.
Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina[1] to Helen Burns (1923–2015)[2], an 18-year-old high school student, and her 33-year-old married neighbor, Noah Louis Robinson (1908–1997)[3]His ancestry includes Cherokee, enslaved African-Americans, Irish plantation owners, and a Confederate sheriff.[4][5] A year after Jesse’s birth, his mother married Charles Henry Jackson, a post-office maintenance worker who later adopted him.[6][7] Jesse took his stepfather’s surname, though he also maintained a close relationship with Robinson as he grew up. He said that he considered both men his fathers.[6][7]
Activism: Became heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement while in college, participating in sit-ins to desegregate libraries in Greenville.
Honors: Has received over 40 honorary doctorate degrees for his work in human and civil rights.
Jackson was involved in many of the civil rights protests and worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King soon began giving Jackson a role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), though he was concerned about Jackson’s apparent ambition and attention-seeking.[8][19] When Jackson returned from Selma, he was charged with establishing a frontline office for the SCLC in Chicago. In 1966 he was made the head of that office.
He spent the rest of his life as an activist and working for equal rights and even ran for president twice. Finishing 2nd and 3rd in democratic primaries.
I got to meet him and Reverend Al Sharpton in the early 1990’s at the high school I was working at in Brooklyn. He was very personable and well-spoken. I enjoyed the back-and-forth discussion we had.
He was a fixture in American politics and life in general. He will be missed by all who knew him and even those who disagreed with him.