A servant for the people, Reverend Jesse Jackson has been fighting for the rights of the poor, unprivileged, weak and voiceless for over 40 years.
We had a chance to grab a couple minutes with the Rev. to discuss everything from the Republican Presidential candidates, to getting money out of politics and his own transcendent legacy.
A true champion of the people, check out GlobalGrind’s exclusive interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson below!
GlobalGrind: You said the greatest challenge the next generation faces is a lack of opportunity and equality. What steps can be taken to change that?
Rev. Jesse Jackson: You have to create opportunity by using your tools. Reading, writing, and counting and thinking is a way of opening closed doors.
In this country we all can learn to read, write, to count and think. But learning must be a priority. Many of us lose valuable time by watching more entertainment, rather than committing ourselves to excellence onto the emancipation. Do not let TV tire our eyes and wipe us away.
We must have a commitment. Dr. King at 14 was studying the Constitution. At 15 he was at Morehouse as a freshman, at 19 he was a graduate of Morehouse. And at 26 he had a Ph.D.
The power of words can stretch over time and still be relevant today. 40 years ago Martin Luther King said, “It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.” That was 40 years ago.
In your opinion, has America gotten away with crime, as a national conversation today has become Income Inequality?
The crime continues; it’s getting worse. Today we’re a richer nation and yet there are 50 million Americans in poverty.
Those who are in poverty are less likely to get health care, less likely to live as long, and more likely to have high infant mortality.
There are 44 million on food stamps. They work hard every day, but they need food assistance. Many cab drivers, they work but they need food assistance. Many who are TSA officers at airports, they work but they need food assistance.
Those who work at McDonald’s and Burger King, they work, they don’t have health care and they need food assistance. So, the number of malnourished is on the increase.
We’ve become on the one hand, too much concentrated on wealth, too much poverty and too much violence. We must break that cycle.
Looking at the current pool of Republican Presidential candidates, do you think Gingrich speaks in a coded racist language? He called President Obama the ‘Food Stamp President,’ when in fact George W. Bush expanded food stamp eligibility under his administration.
On the issue of food stamps, 49 million who use food stamps are White, 24 million are black, 20 are Latino, so “we” have the image of food stamps but that’s not who we are, number 1.
Number 2, the whole Republican Party, all of the elitists are determined to support the 10th amendment – that’s a state’s right as sovereign, which means states have a right to determine who gets an education, who has the right to vote.
Dr. King’s victories are over state’s rights because we supported a more perfect Union.
So, when the Republicans were in South Carolina, a state where 33 percent are African American, and then go to 1 church, 1 community, 1 school, they send a signal.
And they didn’t reach out to Collin Powell, who is Republican. J C Watson, Michael Steele, former Chair and a Congressman from South Carolina and Florida who are African American, it means they have turned their backs on us.
It’s not so much of what Newt Gingrich says, it’s what they do. And what they do is seek to be indifferent to pain and possibilities of black people.
And you’re doing it at your own peril. The reality is, we would not have a new South without the Civil Rights Movement.
You couldn’t have had the Charlotte Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Hawks behind the cotton curtain. African Americans marched…we made the new South. We opened that gate through our marches and sacrifices.
Can you lay out the framework for the Civil Rights Movement and the relevance it has today?
Civil Rights is a need for government to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. So it has to intervene to protect those who are vulnerable.
In the ’50s and ’60s the government had to intervene in legal segregation. Now it must intervene to protect those rights, which are now in jeopardy.
And every generation must face its own challenges. We got the crown; it’s even more difficult to keep it. That means the fight must continue.
How can young people be of service to their communities?
One, know that yesterday’s fight was a fight for freedom. Today is a fight for equality. It requires a different preparation.
If we are going to build, we must begin mastering science, master building, master construction, master banking, and master engineering. These are the forthcoming challenges of our time.
Today we are losing black radio stations because we don’t have the tax certificate. We are losing community banks.
We are losing insurance companies. We are losing our houses in record numbers, so join the fight to salvage what we have and push forward.
This generation is facing more debt, less jobs and the threat to be the first generation that financially will not surpass their parent’s income. If you do not have a job and you’re a college graduate, what can you do?
Don’t self-destruct with drugs, alcohol and violence. Do not self-degrade and lose your self-esteem just because you lost your job.
You must believe you can make it. Wherever there is a crack in the door, you can go through the crack. Thirdly, be prepared because those who are most prepared are most likely to succeed. Therefore we should have zero dropouts.
We must pursue education with a passion and when we do, strong minds break strong chains. And no one has earned the right to do less than their best.
Why should young people get out voting in 2012? How can they be part of the political process?
First, if 18 or older you have a right to vote. You should vote for more college scholarships, you should vote for more pell grants. You should vote for debt forgiveness. Vote because you want policies that will enable you to go to school, and to get a job, and to end war.
How would you like to define your legacy?
A servant, a long distance runner, a passionate long distance runner for service. I was jailed July 16th, 1960 trying to use the public library with several other classmates.
And we were fighting for the right to use the public library. I marched with Dr. King for the right to vote. I marched to free Mandela.
I marched in the run for the Presidency. I have never stopped running in this battle. You have to endure this fight until the end.
How can we get money out of politics?
Right now, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were individuals. There are no limits to the corrupting of our political process.
They have this thing called super PACs; they spend an unlimited amount of money attacking each other.
Gingrich attacks Romney, Romney attacks Gingrich. Not one is attacking poverty, lack of access to drinkable water, health care, etc…
So we see now is an abuse of power. Against those odds it’s difficult today, but was more difficult yesterday. We still can march, and we can register and vote and we can determine the outcome.
