HR1423 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1423 LRB099 23494 GRL 50962 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. on the occasion of his 75th birthday on October 8, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was born on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina; he graduated from public schools in Greenville and then enrolled at the University of Illinois on a football scholarship; he later transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University graduating in 1964; he began his theological studies at Chicago Theological Seminary but deferred his studies when he began working full-time in the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; he was ordained on June 30, 1968 and received his earned Master of Divinity degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary in 2000; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. began his activism as a student in the summer of 1960 when he sought to desegregate the local public library in Greenville and served as a leader in the sit-in movement; in 1965, he became a full-time organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; he was soon appointed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to direct the Operation Breadbasket program; and

WHEREAS, In December 1971, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) in Chicago with the goals of economic empowerment and expanding educational, business, and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged and people of color; in 1984, he founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization based in Washington, D.C. that is devoted to political empowerment, education, and changing public policy; in September 1996, the Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH merged to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to continue the work of both organizations; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.'s presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 broke new ground in United States politics; his 1984 campaign registered over one million new voters, won 3.5 million votes, and helped the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in 1986; his 1988 campaign registered over two million new voters, won seven million votes, and helped boost hundreds of state and local elected officials into office; he also won historic victories, coming in first or second in 46 of 54 primary contests; and

WHEREAS, On November 2, 1985, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. joined with Oliver Tambo, Bishop Trevor Huddleston, Ken Livingston, Bernie Grant, Keith Vaz, Paul Boateng, future member of parliament Diane Abbot, and others at the 120,000-strong demonstration in London's Trafalgar Square to protest apartheid in South Africa and call upon the South African government to free Nelson Mandela; he later met with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, appealing to her to end Britain's support for apartheid; and

WHEREAS, In 1991, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was elected to serve as Senator of Washington, D.C., where he advocated for statehood for the nation's capital and advanced the "rainbow" agenda at the national and international levels; since then, he has continued to promote voter registration and lead get-out-the-vote campaigns, believing that everyone should be encouraged to be a responsible, informed, and active voter; he has also spearheaded major organizing tours through Appalachia, Mississippi, California, and Georgia; and

WHEREAS, In October 1997, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was appointed by President Bill Clinton and then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, as "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa"; in this capacity, he traveled to several countries in Africa and met with national leaders such as President Nelson Mandela of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Daniel T. Arap Moi of Kenya, and President Frederick J.T. Chiluba of Zambia; and

WHEREAS, On February 16, 2003, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was the keynote speaker at a rally held in London's Hyde Park with over one million people protesting the expected invasion of Iraq by the United States; in August 2007, Equanomics UK invited him to help launch the new organization in a historic nine-city United Kingdom tour; the tour coincided with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act in Britain, including the official Greater London Authority ceremony with Mayor Ken Livingston; at the conclusion of the tour, he joined international dignitaries at the unveiling of a statue of Nelson Mandela in London's Parliament Square; and

WHEREAS, In January 2008, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. delivered the international keynote address on the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi at an event in New Delhi, India marking the 50th anniversary of Gandhi's martyrdom; the global event celebrated the strength of non-violent, peaceful protest that Gandhi demonstrated in his uncompromising quest for peace and justice; and

WHEREAS, Due to his status as a highly respected and trusted world leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. has acted as an international diplomat in many sensitive situations; in 1984, he secured the release of captured Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman from Syria and the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners from Cuba; he was the first American to bring home citizens of the United Kingdom, France, and other countries who were held as "human shields" by Saddam Hussein in Kuwait and Iraq in 1990; in 1999, he negotiated the release of United States soldiers held hostage in Kosovo; in August 2000, he helped negotiate the release of four journalists working on a documentary for Britain's BBC 4 network who were held in Liberia; he has traveled extensively in the Middle East and Asia and was a special guest of President Fernando Cardoso of Brazil in honoring Zumbi, the leader of slave revolts that led to the end of slavery in Brazil; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. has been a consistent and vigorous supporter of the labor movement in the United States and around the world and has walked more picket lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national leader; he has worked with unions to organize workers, protect workers' rights, and mediate labor disputes; in 1996, he traveled to Asia to investigate treatment of workers in the Japanese automobile industry and in athletic apparel factories in Indonesia; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. frequently lectures at major colleges and universities, including Howard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Morehouse College, Harvard University, Columbia University, Stanford University, and Hampton University; he continues to be a leading advocate for a variety of public policy issues, including universal health care, equal administration of justice in all communities, sufficient funding for enforcement of civil rights laws, and for increased attention to business investment in under-served domestic communities, a theme that the Clinton administration incorporated in the "New Markets Initiative"; he also supports a broad range of policies to improve education, eliminate poverty, and remind everyone that we are a "One-Big-Tent-America", with room for all and with no one left in the margins; he spearheads the campaign of "Restructure Loans, Don't Foreclose on Homes", which tackles the housing and economic crises gripping the world; he has also visited thousands of high schools, colleges, universities, and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young people to study diligently and stay drug-free; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. has received more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees and countless awards and honors for his work in human and civil rights and non-violent social change; in 1991, the United States Postal Service put his likeness on a pictorial postal cancellation, only the second living person to receive such an honor; he has been on the Gallup List of the Ten Most Respected Americans for many years; he has received the prestigious NAACP Spingarn Award in addition to honors from hundreds of grassroots, civic, and community organizations from coast to coast; he was made an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford University in the United Kingdom in November 2007; he received an Honorary Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, England; he was inducted into the prestigious Cambridge Union Society in March 2010; he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in April 2010; on August 9, 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor, by President Bill Clinton for his work; in 2009, he received the "Global Diversity and Inclusion Award" by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown; and

WHEREAS, From 1992 to 2000, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. hosted "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson" on CNN; he continues to write a weekly column of analysis syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times; he is the author of "Keep Hope Alive" (1989), and "Straight From the Heart" (1987); with his son, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., he co-authored the books "Legal Lynching: Racism, Injustice, and the Death Penalty" (1996) and "It's About The Money" (1999); and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. married his college sweetheart Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1963; they have five children, Santita Jackson, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Luther Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Esq., and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, Jr.; and

WHEREAS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. will celebrate his 75th birthday at an event in his honor on October 8, 2016 at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's National Headquarters in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Over the past 40 years, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice; his status as the "Conscience of the Nation" and "the Great Unifier" and his ability to bring people together on common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender, and belief is worthy of the greatest respect; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. on the occasion of his 75th birthday and wish him great success and happiness in his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. as a symbol of our esteem and respect.