š£ Remembering The Rev. Jesse Jackson: His Life In Quotes š
Weekend Plug-in š
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OKLAHOMA CITY ā Like so many of my journalism colleagues, I crossed paths with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
My main reporting on the civil rights icon ā a protĆ©gĆ© of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a two-time Democratic presidential candidate ā came 25 years ago.
Jackson, who died Tuesday at age 84, came to Oklahoma in January 2001 during my time as a state reporter for The Oklahoman.
As I noted in a Plug-in column last month, Jackson led protests ā including an anti-death penalty march ā against the execution of Wanda Jean Allen, a Black woman convicted of two murders. I served as a media witness for Allenās lethal injection, Oklahomaās first execution of a woman since becoming the nationās 46th state in 1907.
In my story on the march, I quoted Jackson as saying Oklahoma was ārunning dangerously close to being No. 1 in football and No. 1 in executions per capita.ā
The quip was timely, given that the Oklahoma Sooners had defeated the Florida State Seminoles, 13-2, in the Orange Bowl earlier that month to win the national championship.
In a Chicago Sun-Times piece this week, journalist Monroe Anderson reflected on covering Jackson for 50 years.
āFor a third of the 20th century and more than a decade of this 21st one, the civil rights activist, politician and ordained Baptist minister was camera ready, omnipresent and imminently quotable,ā Anderson said.
Amen, said all the journalists ā myself included ā who never found Jackson at a loss for soundbites.
Besides the handful of times I interacted with Jackson on the telephone or at media scrums before Allenās execution, I have a vague recollection of interviewing him during my two-year stint with The Associated Press in Dallas from 2003 to 2005. But since I canāt recall any specifics or find any archive evidence of my byline and him as a source during that time, maybe that call didnāt really happen.
Jesse Jackson speaks at the Washington Convention Center in 1986. (Shutterstock photo)
Among the Godbeat pros I knew would cover Jacksonās death ā because they reported on his life ā were Religion News Serviceās Adelle M. Banks and Religion Unplugged senior contributor Hamil R. Harris. And they did not disappoint: Check out Banksā RNS story and Harrisā pieces (here and here) for the Washington Informer.
For a fascinating analysis, donāt miss religion writer Daniel Sillimanās Substack article on āJesse Jackson and White Evangelicals.ā
Jacksonās life was not without controversy ā from questions over whether he used Kingās death for self-promotion to controversy when he referred to Jews as āHymiesā to the revelation that he fathered an out-of-wedlock child with a staff member. That latter news broke soon after Jackson came to Oklahoma in 2001.
But Jacksonās immense influence and contributions to civil rights and political life in America were evident in the wake of his passing, as noted in Cassidy Gromās Religion Unplugged obituary.
As I perused all the news coverage, these quotes stood out to me:
āFrom Martin Luther King to Barack Obama, thereās a bridge called Jesse Jackson.ā ā the Rev. Al Sharpton, via The Associated Press
āMy constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised. They are restless and seek relief.ā ā Jackson at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, via the New York Times
āI was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. And it wasnāt born in you, and you can make it.ā ā Jackson at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, via the New York Times
āProgress will not come through boundless liberalism nor static conservatism but at the critical mass of mutual survival. ā¦ It takes two wings to fly.ā ā Jackson at the 1988 convention, via the Wall Street Journal
āJesse donāt want to run nothing but his mouth.ā ā Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry in 1990, via the Los Angeles Times
āThe cause of justice has no greater co-worker than Jesse Jackson. It's hard to imagine how we could have come as far as we have without the creative power, the keen intellect, the loving heart and the relentless passion of Jesse Louis Jackson.ā ā President Bill Clinton, awarding Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, via Time
āWe need to have the full assurance that God did not bring us this far to leave us now. So we march for healing and hope. God will forgive our sins and heal our land. Keep hope alive.ā ā Jackson, concluding a 2002 speech at his Rainbow PUSH Coalitionās annual conference, via RNS
āItās time to go back to the streets to complete Dr. Kingās agenda.ā ā Jackson at a historic 2005 meeting of four Black Baptist denominations, via RNS
"It is because people like Jesse ran that I have this opportunity to run for president today." ā Obama in 2007, via CBS News
āI was able to run for the presidency twice and redefine what was possible; it raised the lid for women and other people of color. Part of my job was to sow seeds of the possibilities.ā ā Jackson in 2011, via AP
āI steadfastly affirm that I would rather wear out than rust out.ā ā Jackson in 2017, announcing that he had Parkinsonās disease but planned to remain active as long as possible, via the Wall Street Journal
"As we continue in the struggle for human rights, remember that God will see us through, even in our midnight moments." ā Jackson in the 2017 announcement, via USA Today
"All I can remember is some voice saying, 'One bullet cannot kill a movement.' We must keep going. If your key player is hurt on the field you cannot forfeit the game, you have to internalize your pain and keep marching and keep moving, and we have to be faithful to his charge 50 years later." ā Jackson in 2018, reflecting on Kingās assasination, via ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago
āI am! Somebody! I may be poor! But I am! Somebody! I may be unemployed! But I am! Somebody! I may not have health care! But I am! Somebody! Respect me! Protect me! Elect me! I am! Godās child!ā ā Jackson at a 2021 protest, chanting one of his trademark phrases, via RNS
"America has lost one of its great moral voices. Rev. Jesse Jackson spent his life working to ensure our nation lives up to its highest ideals." ā U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Baptist pastor, via PBS
āHe was a gifted negotiator and a courageous bridgeābuilder, serving humanity by bringing calm into tense rooms and creating pathways where none existed.ā ā the Rev. Bernice King, youngest child of MLK Jr., via Facebook
āJesse Jackson was a gift from God and a witness that God exists in the ways he cared for and lifted all people, the way he called forth a rainbow coalition of people to challenge economic and social inequality from the pulpit to a historic presidential run, the way he dared to keep hope alive whenever the nation struggled with being who she says she is and yet ought to be.ā ā the Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor Peopleās Campaign, via RNS
āWe stood on his shoulders. We send our deepest condolences to the Jackson family and everyone in Chicago and beyond who knew and loved him.ā ā Obama, via X
āJesse was a force of nature like few others before him. He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!ā ā President Donald Trump, via USA Today
āRev. Jackson conceived of a more just and inclusive America, believed in it with unwavering faith, and dedicated his entire life to achieving it ā all while teaching the next generation how to carry the torch forward. He was an unstoppable and formidable force, proving that no opponent or battle was too big.ā ā Ben Crump, civil rights attorney and Jackson friend, via USA Today
āHis unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.ā ā the Jackson family, via Instagram
Inside The Godbeat
Like Jesse Jackson, David E. Anderson was 84.
Andersonās death Saturday hit the Godbeat community hard.
He āwas editor of Religion News Service from 1997 to 2004 and a signal voice on the religion beat for two decades as a reporter for United Press International,ā Adelle M. Banks and Bob Smietana wrote in his RNS obituary.
The Religion News Association lauded Anderson, who earned the organizationās 2004 William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award, as āa pioneering voice in the religion journalism space.ā
The Final Plug
OK, maybe my driving skills arenāt the best.
Did I mention that Iām mostly blind in my left eye?
In a Christian Chronicle column this week, I reflected on a trip to Arkansas ā with my ādesignated driverā Jeremie Beller ā behind the wheel.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 20 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.