Jesse Jackson: a Tribute

Jesse Jackson participating in a rally, January 15, 1975. Photograph Source: O’Halloran, Thomas J. – Public Domain

It would be hard to overstate Jesse Jackson’s importance in opening up American politics and society, not just to Black Americans, but also to Hispanics, and the LGTBQ community. It is probably difficult for younger people to imagine, and even old-timers like myself to remember, how bad discrimination was in the not very distant past.

When Jackson ran the first time in 1984...