The Legacy of Jesse Jackson
After the passing of Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson, Joseph Lawson, Executive Director of SDARJ was interviewed by WRDE TV reporter Ted Corriero.
Lawson worked with Jesse Jackson on the “Digital Bridge Project whose purpose was to provide internet access and training for underprivileged people in poor communities.
Lawson remembers Jesse Jackson as not just a charismatic civil rights leader and electrifying speaker but as kind, fun and humble man.
Among other things, he said Jackson will be remember for two things:
- Hope: Keep Hope Alive was one of his most remembered lines. The concept of hope for all people regardless of their station in life will be one of Jackson’s enduring legacies. Twenty year’s after Jackson completed his historic presidential run in 1988 where he finished seconded to eventual democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, another Chicago leader won the democratic nomination and the presidency on the concept and promise of hope.
- The rainbow coalition: Jeese continued King’s legacy of building coalitions with his “Rainbow Coalition” expanding it to include all races, nationalities, all income groups, all religions, all sexual orientations.
Both these concepts are foundational for the work that SDARJ continues to do today in Sussex County.
On the 250th anniversary of the founding of America, we are grateful to Jackson and his family for the legacy Jackson left us all.
