# Rev Jesse Jackson RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 17, 2026, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740 "2026-02-17T11:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/41 "2026-02-17T22:23:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > How well known was he outside of Chicago? FWIW, I’m a 57 year old German and have known him since I was a teenager. I didn’t even know which city he came from, to me he was an American civil rights activist, speaker and politician who had ties to Martin Luther King Jr. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/42 "2026-02-17T23:19:30Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > A message he no longer wishes to express, I’m sure. This was from his self-aggrandizing tweet about Jackson’s death. > [@](#): > > Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way. And he posted several pictures of himself with Jackson. Definitely weird behavior from him since he didn’t even acknowledge MLK day this year. I assume he thinks this gives him all the credit for Jackson’s success. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/43 "2026-02-18T00:16:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > cameras are rolling. I expect Jesse Jackson to show up and start pontificating. and who else was able to draw attention to the situation at hand? ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/44 "2026-02-18T00:17:51Z")
well, remember he was a preacher ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/45 "2026-02-18T00:19:25Z")
I happened to hear his “Keep Hope Alive” speech as it was broadcasted live, on my local NPR station while I worked evenings. He was definitely an excellent orator. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/46 "2026-02-18T06:10:53Z")
I remember him coming and speaking to my elementary school. He did the “I am… somebody” thing and I remember thinking: “I am somebody? Duh! Of course I am!” It wasn’t until much I realized that was the first time I had viscerally felt what White Privilege is. It was such a positive thing to have all these white and black public school kids saying it together. I just didn’t know what it meant at the time. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/47 "2026-02-18T11:26:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > he founded two Chicago-based civil rights / social justice organizations: Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition (which he eventually merged), and which, AFAICT, he ran up until his death. No, he stepped down in 2023. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/48 "2026-02-18T16:25:20Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, he stepped down in 2023. Ahh, thank you for that clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/49 "2026-02-18T19:45:41Z")
I voted twice for him in the primaries. I kept hope alive… In 1984 I worked with a guy from South Sudan (at the time it was still part of Sudan). When we talked about politics, I was enthusiastic for Jesse Jackson, but he preferred Gary Hart. I was in the position of defending the Black guy to a Black guy. He was unimpressed by the phrase “I am somebody.” Repeating derisively, “‘I am somebody’ - what even is that?” Until that point, I hadn’t noticed that from another point of view, “I am somebody” can sound totally inane. Like answering “What is this?” by saying “It’s a thing.” Conveys no actual information. But as a foreigner, he couldn’t appreciate the Black American experience where you’re made to feel like a nobody for 400 years, and how important it is to proclaim yourself as _somebody_ (who matters). ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740/50 "2026-02-21T01:35:55Z")
and now Mike Johnson has denied Jackson to be reviewed at the Capitol [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-rip/1027740.md?page=2)