All results / Stories / Jesse Jackson
No Doubt Global Warming Is a Reality
Record fires in Oregon and California. Floods in Houston and New York. Deadly winter storms in Texas. Droughts across much of the west. Flash floods in England and Germany. Blinding dust storms in China. 100-year cyclones devastate Fiji and Indonesia. Deadly droughts across sub-Saharan Africa. Wildfires in Greece and Italy. The year is not over yet, but in the United States and across the world, the toll in lives and destruction is growing in storms of biblical proportion.
'I Can't Breathe'
The murder of George Floyd was a lynching in broad daylight. Three police officers stood and watched as a fourth, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck. They watched for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, with Floyd unresponsive for 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that, according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin. They did nothing to stop the murder. Their silence was as much an act of violence as Cauvin's knee. And if there were no video recording of the murder, they likely would have upheld the Code Blue loyalty, and lied about what happened.
Those Who Do Nothing On Gun Control Fail Our Children
The United States is failing in what surely is the first duty of government -- protecting our children from threats that they cannot deal with themselves. Voters and politicians are failing our children.
South Carolina's Leading Its People Down a Dead-end Street
South Carolina's James Louis Petigru was a Civil War-era lawyer, judge, congressman, and most notably the attorney general who opposed South Carolina's use of nullification of federal laws and, after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, opposed state secession. He famously quipped, after learning that his state had seceded from the Union, "South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum."
Selma's Mirror
The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, is famed as the site of Bloody Sunday, the violent 1965 police riot that sparked a national outrage powerful enough to drive the Voting Rights Act through the Congress. This past weekend, my son Jonathan and I joined with President Biden, political leaders, ministers and veterans of that march to commemorate that terrible day.
How We See the Past Reflects How We Live In the Present
Our history involves both hard facts and interpretation – the context in which the hard facts are presented. Interpretation inevitably is political and contested. How we see the past reflects how we live in the present and what we hope for in the future.
A Return to Diplomacy in Venezuela Needed
The United States is pushing for an overthrow of the government of Venezuela. The Trump administration has denounced Nicolas Maduro as a "dictator," dismissing the 2018 election, which the opposition boycotted. Instead of a good neighbor policy or a policy of nonintervention, the Trump administration has set out intentionally to overthrow the regime.
Now Is the Time for Citizens of Conscience to Act
Racism is not natural. Babies -- black, brown, white -- explore the world and each other with wonder, not hate. Racism has to be taught. It is learned behavior. To assume that a person is inherently superior or inferior to another based upon race is unnatural and ungodly. Racism is used for political manipulation and economic exploitation. In a land founded on the belief that all men are created equal, slavery could not be justified without a racism that depicted slaves as sub-human.
Trump's Border Threats Create Chaos
Donald Trump's flailings on immigration and the Mexican border continue to spiral into chaos. First, he threatened to close the border with Mexico. One week later, he walked that back. He declares a national emergency about the "invasion" of people seeking asylum from Central American countries, and then says he's stopped all aid to those countries, which can only worsen the conditions that cause people to leave.
True Scandal In Puerto Rican Recovery Effort Is Trump's Dereliction
The scandals around in Puerto Rico's agonies are far greater than the bizarre contract to pay Whitefish Energy, a tiny Montana company from U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown, $300 million to restore electric lines.
Jesse Jackson: Immigration rules should be clear and the playing field even
In one of the largest, fastest, most abrupt mass expulsions of refugees in modern U.S. history, the United States has begun flying some 12,000 Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to Haiti. Invoking executive authority asserted by Donald Trump, the Biden administration is enforcing the Donald Trump immigration policy when it comes to Haitians.
Sen. Manchin Has a Chance to Make History and Benefit His State
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin stands at the bridge. He has immense influence - virtually a veto - on whether and how this country makes progress in the Biden administration.
It's Time for Patriots to Stand Up
America's democracy is under assault -- systematic, unrelenting and unhinged. The assault is waged by one party -- the Republican Party. It is largely driven by the lies and racism of Donald Trump, who simply will not accept that he lost the last election. To deny that unacceptable reality, Trump has spread -- and Republican officials across the country have echoed -utterly fraudulent claims of fraud to justify measures to make voting more difficult.
The Trump Administration's Lies Are Starting to Hurt
For many of his supporters, Donald Trump's casual relationship with the truth was at first amusing, part of his brash, anti-establishment appeal. He says what he thinks, went the argument, and if it isn't true, so be it. His voters, we were told, have learned to take him seriously but not literally.
Let Us Not Censor Dr. King's Life Even As We Glorify Him
As another year passes with celebrations marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, I worry about the dangers of neutering Dr. King's life, turning him into a "dreamer" who became a martyr. We shouldn't forget that Dr. King was a leader, a man of conscience and of action. He sought to transform America, that forced him to be a disrupter -- and to bear the wounds of being unpopular in a just cause.
The Myths and Lies About Poverty
"The poor will always be with us," say the cynics. No doubt, some will always be wealthier than others. We wouldn't want to live in a society that forced all to be equal. But poverty isn't inevitable. The 30 million people in America who lived in poverty even before the pandemic when unemployment was at record lows needn't exist in that state.
After Harvey And Irma, We Must Rebuild Responsibly
We have suffered brutal direct hits. Over half of the state of Florida is without power, in the dark. It is too soon to know what the losses are. Houston, America's fourth largest city, suffered the most extreme rain event in U.S. history. Casualties are mounting; damages are estimated at a staggering $125 billion.
Our Democracy Depends On a Free and Fair Vote
In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections has thrown out the election results in its 9th congressional district for fraudulent activity -- probably the first time in U.S. history this has happened. The fraud was committed by a campaign, not by voters, and by a Republican, not a Democrat. For years, Republicans have campaigned for voting restrictions claiming, as Donald Trump has repeatedly, that voter fraud is widespread. In fact, it's not ineligible voters distorted election results, but rather the fraudulent efforts of an embattled Republican Party to rig the rules that has led to election irregularities.
Assault On Right to Vote Comes From Home-grown Reactionaries
This past weekend, we once again gathered in Selma, Ala., to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," the March 7, 1965, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that was savagely put down by police.
Democrats must respond to young voters
"Dance with the one that brung you," goes the old saw. Democrats would be wise to absorb its wisdom. In the last election, pundits expected a "red wave," with inflation high, Biden unpopular, and the history of midterm elections. Instead, Democrats were handed the best midterm results of any party since the 2002 midterm when Republicans were boosted by the post-9/11 sentiments.
