20 Answers: Jesse Jackson

1 Thirty years ago, the biggest challenge was getting America to admit that gradualism as a strategy was not working. Today, our challenge is making sure the gains we have made are not gradually lost due to apathy or inattention. Freedom requires eternal vigilance.

2 What most people don’t know about me is this false notion that I seek media attention to aggrandize myself. The media is the only form of modern communication that is effective. If I cannot communicate, I cannot have an impact on the issues that matter—improving education, leveling the economic playing field, and improving conditions for the poor.

3 A bumper sticker that captures my ideology would say “Keep Hope Alive,” and I would put it on my car and in every voting place. I’d put it everywhere.

4 Since my presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 … The ability to fundraise has changed politics permanently. We were never able to raise lots of money—that was before the Internet was so widely available. Obama’s campaign was able to take it to the next level.

5 I come home about once every couple of months.

6 When I’m home I often visit my birthplace
on Haynie Street to pray and look at the room where I was born. It reminds me how far God has taken me across the world to serve. I also always walk across the new bridge downtown on Main Street to look at the flowing water across the rocks—it’s symbolic to me.

7 A worst memory from my childhood …
Being falsely accused of stealing as a child by a white storekeeper, and no adult came to my aid.
That was very painful.

8 A best memory … I have fond memories of my father, and growing up in Greenville I made lasting friends and learned the lessons of life playing football for the Sterling Tigers at Sirrine Stadium. Playing well reminded us that one day we would have a chance to compete and live across racial lines.

9A typical dinner at the Jackson house is chicken or fish, with vegetables like sweet potatoes and greens, and we’re discussing—mostly agreeing—that the use of peaceful direct action is still the most powerful tool available to achieve social change.

10 Martin Luther King Jr. made the longest-lasting impression on my work today. He gave minorities a majority dream.