Jesse Jackson & And His Role In Civil Rights In The 70's

Jesse Jackson

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. (born October 8, 1941) is an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as "shadow senator" for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. (Dudley, 56-61)He was the founder of both entities that merged to form Rainbow/PUSH. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is his eldest son. According to an AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll in February 2006, Jackson was voted "the most important black leader" with 15% of the vote. In 2001, Jackson was shown to have had an affair with a staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley, in May 1999. According to CNN, in August 1999, The Rainbow Push Coalition had paid Stanford $15,000 in moving expenses and $21,000 in payment for contracting work. A promised advance of an additional $40,000 against future contracting work was rescinded once the affair became public. This incident prompted Jackson to withdraw from activism for a short time. Separate from the 1999 Rainbow Coalition payments, Jackson pays $4,000 a month in child support. (Frum,74)

Rainbow/PUSH is a non-profit organization formed as a merger of two non-profit organizations — Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition — founded by Jesse Jackson. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism. (David, 50-59)

Operation PUSH was successful at raising public awareness to initiate corporate action and government sponsorship. The National Rainbow coalition became a prominent political organization that raised public awareness on numerous political issues and consolidated a large voting bloc. The merged entity has undertaken numerous social initiatives. (Jackson, 121)

His Role In Civil Rights In The 70''s

The origins of Operation PUSH can be traced to a factional split in Operation Breadbasket, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr., the head of the SCLC, appointed Jackson to head the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket, which became a coalition of black ministers and entrepreneurs. (Asante,130)

After 1968, however, Jackson increasingly clashed with King's successor at SCLC, Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The break became complete in December 1971 when Abernathy suspended Jackson for “administrative improprieties and repeated acts of violation of organizational policy.” (Jackson,255) Jackson resigned from Operation Breadbasket, called together his allies, and Operation PUSH was born. From its inception, Jackson referred to its membership as a "Rainbow Coalition." Although money was a problem at first, initial backing came from Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, Gary, Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher, Aretha Franklin, Jim Brown, and Ossie Davis. (David, 68-95)

The organizational meeting of PUSH was in the Chicago home of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a prominent black doctor and community leader on the South Side. Before he moved to Chicago in 1956, Howard had developed a national reputation as a Mississippi civil rights leader, surgeon, and entrepreneur. Howard served on PUSH's board of directors and chaired the finance committee.(Haskins,149)

Through PUSH Jackson was able ...