Jesse Jackson, American politician, civil rights activist, and Baptist minister was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina. His mother, Helen Burns was a 16-year-old student and his biological father, Noah Louis Robinson an already married neighbor. Jesse was adopted by his step-father, Charles Henry Jackson in 1957.
Jesse received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, but, unhappy with circumstances there, chose to transfer to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro where he was a star athlete and student, receiving his B.A. in 1964. Jackson then attended the Chicago Theological Seminary and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1968, though he had not finished his course work at CTS. Jackson married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1962.
Jesse Jackson met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, Alabama in 1965 when Jackson joined King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and participated in demonstrations for expanded voting rights for blacks. King selected Jackson to be head of SCLC's Operation Breadbasket in Chicago and then promoted him to national director in 1967.
After King's death, Jackson clashed with Ralph Abernathy, King's successor and in December of 1971 Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity). In 1984 Jackson organized the Rainbow Coalition which later merged in 1996 with Operation PUSH. Jackson has established himself as a dynamic force for social and political action in both the national and international arenas.
Jackson is an inspirational speaker and has stirred both admiration and criticism. Jackson campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 1984 and 1988. Although not chosen, he succeeded in bringing Americans of all colors to consider a black man for the presidency. He is a tireless worker who is committed to his causes.
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