When I learned of the passing of the Rev. Jesse Jackson a vague memory rose to the surface. I reached out to my sister and brother in law who live in Indiana. She is a special education teacher and advocate, musician, and filmmaker/videographer. He is a Methodist minister (also a musician.)
To my sister:
Am I hallucinating that you were a big fan of Jesse Jackson especially because of his vision of the Rainbow Coalition?
We voted for him when he ran the first time.
That's what I thought.
We went to hear him speak when we were living in Dayton. It was a great experience!
Thank you, I've been thinking about writing about him and I thought you had a direct connection.
No more direct connection than that! G. and I saw him at a nice restaurant in Chicago one time. He was waiting for a table just as we were.
Thank you!
To my brother in law, a retired Methodist minister:
Do you all have any memories as Jesse Jackson supporters that you’d be willing to share with me that I could shape into a blog? They could be simple fragments or anecdotes.
His response:
When we were in seminary, during the 1984 election, we heard that Jesse Jackson would be speaking at a church in Dayton. We had been painting, and were wearing old shabby clothes. We thought we would just drive past the church to see what we could see. There was a lot of traffic and there were folks from the church who were trying to keep things moving.
One of them walked over to our car while we were waiting in traffic. My window was down and he leaned in and asked, "Are you here to see the brother?"
We were a little uncertain because of our dress, but I said, "Yes, we are." He waved us into the church parking lot and they guided us to a parking spot. We were welcomed inside and we found a place in the back of the balcony where we hoped that we would be inconspicuous. Jesse was late and there was a lot of music and warm up speakers.
At one point they asked if there were any clergy present, and I stood up. It was a large church and it was packed.
Jesse gave a great inspiring message of hope. In spite of how we were dressed, we were very well treated, and we have always been glad that we were there.
My memory of learning about Rev. Jackson from them is shaped by what mattered to them most. Both my sister as a teacher and my brother in law as a pastor placed a high priority on working for community that accepted, included, and empowered everyone. This was what spoke to them about the Rainbow Coalition.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I was too young then and/or hadn’t had enough life experience to understand how deeply important these values are to a healthy, functioning democracy. I’m certainly painfully aware of that today.
Many thanks to my sister and brother in law for helping me write this post.
Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow - red, yellow, brown, black and white - and we're all precious in God's sight.
America is not like a blanket - one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt - many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt.
Even in our fractured state, all of us count and all of us fit somewhere. We have proven that we can survive without each other. But we have not proven that we can win and progress without each other. We must come together.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Democratic National Convention, 1984
Comments
Post a Comment