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.
This was from his self-aggrandizing tweet about Jackson’s death.
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.
and who else was able to draw attention to the situation at hand?
well, remember he was a preacher
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.
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.
No, he stepped down in 2023.
Ahh, thank you for that clarification.
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).