"Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up" - Jesse Jackson
⦿
Jesse Jackson shared my birthday so, ridiculously perhaps, I felt something of a bond with him. He knew Martin Luther King Junior well and carried on his work after the great man's assassination. It would have been easier for Jesse Jackson to live a quiet life, away from the media and the hurly burly of current affairs and politics but he chose to stand up and be counted. All his adult life, he fought the good fight in the name of justice, freedom and equality.
If you want to know more details about his life, please go to his Wikipedia page.
Straight after the American presidential election in November 2016, Jesse Jackson wrote an article for "The Guardian" newspaper. Much of what he said was prescient:-
"Based on Trump’s campaign rhetoric and the Republican party platform, the social, racial and economic progress America has made over recent decades is in danger: gender equality, the fight for a living wage, affordable healthcare, the struggle for sensible gun control laws, immigration reform and the regeneration of urban communities.
We can only hope he will not govern the way he campaigned – a steady diet of retrograde fantasies and divisive talk about taking the country back. Back to where? When Jim Crow and American apartheid ruled the land; when women could not vote or serve on juries?
I have known Trump for years and, until this bruising campaign, always thought him a decent man. We had our political differences, but I was surprised he turned so quickly and sharply to the right in his quest for power. It saddened and alarmed me that his words resonated so deeply with the racist right that the Ku Klux Klan’s leading newspaper endorsed him."
Although our American cousins are all familiar with the historic term, "Jim Crow", European and Australian visitors may be puzzled by it so let me explain...
Jim Crow refers to a legalized system of racial apartheid and segregation in the Southern United States from the late nineteenth century until the mid-1960s. These state and local laws enforced the separation of black and white people in public spaces, including schools, transportation, and restaurants, effectively ensuring a second-class status for African Americans. The term stems from a nineteenth century minstrel character who denigrated black Americans for the amusement of largely white audiences.
Jesse would have been the first to admit that he was imperfect but compared with most public figures, he lived a good life and sought to do what was righteous on behalf of his fellow human beings - not just in America but around the world.
Affordable healthcare, gun control laws, social housing ...
ReplyDeleteJesse Jackson sees what needs to be done.
A friend of mine has gone the way of conspiracy. Gone down the rabbit hole.
He follows a Trumpite by the name of Susan Kokinda of Promethean Action.
She says the de-industrialisation of America was planned. By the Globalists.
For a more balanced view :
HOW DID AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL DECLINE HAPPEN ?
YouTube. The 92nd Street Y. New York.
Some people cannot see the wood for the trees.
DeleteHe paved the way for Obama.
ReplyDeleteYes he did and he wept when Obama won the election back in 2007/8.
DeleteI first heard and read about Jesse Jackson while doing my under graduation in mid-80s, when he was running for a presidential nomination. What struck me was his commitment to stand up for what is right, especially on matters of social justice, rather than choose a quiet life. He admirably carried on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Truly an inspirational figure not just in American politics but across the world. He will be missed.
ReplyDeleteMy latest post: India and Denmark: A tale of two very different postal systems
You understand Pradeep.
DeleteJesse Jackson had the people first in his policies.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to be cynical but Jesse Jackson was bigger and finer than that.
DeleteHis death was a big feature on last night's main TV news. They gave a brief summary of his life and work, and one short clip showed him when Barack Obama became President for the first time; understandably, he was moved to tears. He had tried vor himself several times for this highest office of his country, but there wasn't an ounce of jealousy in him - he was just happy.
ReplyDeleteHe paved the way for Barack Obama.
DeleteWhat Jackson said in 2016 came to pass, and then years later became even worse. Jackson must have been distressed to see the US in its current situation.
ReplyDeleteTrump has presided over several significant backward steps.
DeleteJackson's original assessment of the orange oaf was rather generous but that's a measure of Jackson's goodness.
ReplyDeleteInitially Trump sided with Democrats. He only became a Republican when he could see a personal path to power.
DeleteThank you for that Grauniad clip. It put Trump’s tweet in context.
ReplyDeleteDonald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
The Reverend Jesse Jackson is Dead at 84. I knew him well, long before becoming President. He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and “street smarts.” He was very gregarious - Someone who truly loved people! Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way. I provided office space for him and his Rainbow Coalition, for years, in the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street; Responded to his request for help in getting CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM passed and signed, when no other President would even try; Single handedly pushed and passed long term funding for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved, but also, which other Presidents would not do; Responded to Jesse’s support for Opportunity Zones, the single most successful economic development package yet approved for Black business men/women, and much more. Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him. He had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand. He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed! President DONALD J. TRUMP
It saddens me that the BBC reporting of this covered only the first four sentences…perhaps I should launch a lawsuit.
Typical of big-headed Trump that even when a great man has died, he cannot stop himself from trying to make political capital from that death.
DeleteCan't remember having heard of "Jim Crow" so thanks for that piece of info. (Of course I may have heard the name some time without making the connection.)
ReplyDeleteOnce a teacher, always a teacher Monica.
DeleteWe shall not see the likes of him for a long time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe never again. He was of his time.
Delete84 years, a long life of important work.
ReplyDeleteHe was "somebody" just like you and me and the downtrodden he championed.
DeleteJesse Jackson worked hard for people, for all people, and now he can rest.
ReplyDeleteRIP
The Obamas had a lovely statement about Jackson; perfection.
Cankles on the other hand ....
Even on the very day that Jesse Jackson died, Trump could not help trying to make political capital for himself. No decorum and no compassion.
DeleteI always found the hysterical denigration of apartheid in South Africa by US people during the late 1960s so hypocritical, as there was equally repulsive discrimination and "separate" living across much of the southern US states at that time whilst the Jim Crow laws remained in force.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point Will. Even today, the legacy of Jim Crow is alive and well in many corners of The Deep South.
DeleteI imagine he was quite shocked by trump's about face.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between Jesse's obit and what will be trump's, Jesse's is genuine.
Trump used to always side with Democrats until he could smell personal power on the right.
DeleteRIP
ReplyDeleteFist clenched in the air for Jesse.
DeleteHe was a great speaker and always looked out for others. I've always loved this video of him with the children on Sesame Street - I am somebody!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-lf4NdOZ90
You cant help but respect anyone who is brave enough to stand up and speak out against injustice. The world is a better place because of Jesse.
ReplyDelete