Keeping Hope Alive: Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
Posted on February 17, 2026
by Eric P
He worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and marched at Selma. He launched the Rainbow Coalition and shattered racial barriers in two campaigns for a presidential nomination. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was instrumental in popularizing the term “African-American.” He performed at the Wattstax Music Festival and had a cameo in the movie Undercover Brother. He hosted Saturday Night Live and appeared on Sesame Street. He was targeted in a Lou Reed diss track and the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
He was Jesse Jackson, and if you haven’t thought much about him recently it’s because some pioneering icons, if they live long enough, weave themselves so inextricably into the cultural fabric that they win the privilege of being taken for granted. Reacquaint yourself with his work through some of these library resources.
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