Rev. Jesse Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues, including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society. Jackson’s advocacy brought him to the Bay Area on many occasions to support local issues, meet and educate young people and speak to local leaders and organizations.
-Associated Press
One of more than 1,000 educators welcomes the Rev. Jesse Jackson to San Jose McEnery Convention Center in January of 2006 to meet with a the California Association of Bilingual Teachers (Photo by Len Lahman/ Mercury News Archives) Jesse Jackson comforts Charles Alexander and his wife Jessie at the Red Cross facility in Moscone Center. They were displaced by the 1989 earthquake. (Gary Reyes/Oakland Tribune Archives) Leading the pack of thousands of United Farm Workers supporters Sunday, April 13, 1997 in Watsonville, Calif. are, left to right, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, UFW President Arturo Rodgriguez, The Rev. Jesse Jackson, UFW Secretary-Treasurer Dolores Dolores Huerta and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thomspson. (AP Photo/Sam Morris) Fifteen-year-old George Hofstetter of San Leandro, right, photographs himself with The Rev. Jesse Jackson during a ceremony at Oakland City Hall, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, in which the Golden State Warriors presented a championship ring to the city of Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group) Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to students at McClymonds High School in Oakland, Calif. about the importance of good study habits and succeeding through education, Tuesday, May 22, 2007. (D. Ross Cameron/The Oakland Tribune) In 2004, Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, with the Rainbow Coalition speaking at the east gates of San Quentin Penitentiary after Mike Farrell, right, with the Death Penalty Focus told the crowd that the scheduled execution of condemned killer Kevin Cooper was called off for Tuesday morning ( Photo by Robert Tong/ Marin IJ Archives) In May of 2000, Florencio Flores, 18, of East Palo Alto, met Jesse Jackson and took home a personal computer courtesy of Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and its corporate partners. Flores was one of 25 East Palo Alto youths who received computers from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. (Bret Putnam/ San Mateo County Times Archives) A student looks through the liner notes of Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1971 album "I Am Somebody," while the noted civil rights activist looks on during his visit to the African American Male Achievement Manhood Development Class at Montera Middle School in April of 2016, in Oakland. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group) In August 2004, Rev. Jesse Jackson greets Beatrice Garrett, 83, at McClure Convalescent Hospital in Oakland where they held a rally in protest to nursing home cuts. (Nick Lammers/ Oakland Tribune Archives) In August of 1997, Jesse Jackson and Bay Area leaders including, right, SF Mayor Willie Brown and Rev. Cecil B. Williams march from the Golden Gate Bridge to Crissy field for a rally. (Photo by Mary F. Calvert/ Oakland Tribune Archives) Rev. Jesse Jackson, second from left, speaks to 13-year-old 8th grader Anthony Johnson, as the noted civil rights leader visited the African American Male Achievement Manhood Development Class at Montera Middle School, Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. Jackson is in the Bay Area for the PUSHTech2020 Summit, to attempt to forge partnerships with area tech companies and work toward more diversity among their workforce. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group) In August of 1997, Jesse Jackson and supporters of affirmative action pray for change as Jackson spoke at Sproul Plaza as a preview to his walk on Thursday across the Golden Gate Bridge.(Photo by Mary F. Calvert/ Tribune Archives) Activist Jesse Jackson, middle, joins college students for a rally against Proposition 54 and the California recall election on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003. Proposition 54, if passed, will prohibit the collection of data on race, ethnicity, color and national origin by California state and local agencies. Jackson was in the San Francisco Bay Area campaigning in favor of Governor Gray Davis and against the recall. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) In January of 2008, Jesse Jackson walked off an Amtrak train in Martinez and greeted a group of workers from Hillhaven Corp. nursing homes and spoke about the issues they face before they all boarded the train which was going to a rally in Oakland. Here Jackson talks to Robert Bande, right in orange plastic, who works for Hillhaven nursing home in Concord. (Contra Costa Times/Dan Rosenstrauch) The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to a full auditorium at Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group) From left, Judge Joe Mathis (cq), Jesse Jackson (cq), and Dwayne Brooks (cq) of Oakland retreat from interviews during a brief moment of silence outside the gates of San Quentin on the eve of the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams (cq), 51, on December 12, 2005. Williams, co-founder of the Crips gang, was convicted of four murders in 1979 and sentenced to death by lethal injection. After 24 years in San Quentin and a denial of clemency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on December 12, 2005; Williams will die at 12:01 a.m on Tuesday. (Anne-Marie McReynolds/ Mercury News) Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson greets students during the student leadership class at Oakland High School in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Jackson spoke on civil rights and encouraged students to register to vote. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Jesse Jackson, center, waves while marching with radio personality Kasey Kasem, left, and State Sen. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, toward the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday Oct. 27, 1997. Jackson led a group of hundreds in a march to protest against California's anti-affirmative action policies. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, holds up the hands of California Gov. Gray Davis, right, and Rev. Cecil Williams, left, pointing at Davis, during a rally for the governor at a church in San Francisco, Tuesday Sept. 16, 2003. Williams is from Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco.(AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. met Monday with members of Hispanic-Net.Com, an organization working to increase participation of Hispanic entrepreneurs in the high tech industry. Jackson was in Silicon Valley to push his agenda of diversifying the technology industry, meeting with representatives of the technology companies and with community representatives in 2002. (Photo by Pauline Lubens/Mercury News Archives) Rev. Jesse Jackson talks with the editorial staffs of Bay Area News Group on Feb. 20, 2014 at San Jose Mercury News. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., shakes hands before the Golden State Warriors game against the Boston Celtics for Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole (3) greets the Rev. Jesse Jackson before the start of Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 13, 2022. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)