Remembering Jesse Jackson in Rock Hill: Politics, fighting for civil rights
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a South Carolina native and two-time presidential candidate who died Tuesday at 84, visited Rock Hill many times over the years to talk about politics and civil rights.
One of the country’s most influential African-American politicians and activists, Jackson spoke to students and the community in Rock Hill about the need to continue to fight against poverty and for equality for all Americans.
When the country turned its eyes to a presidential forum at Winthrop University in November 2015 when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Jackson was a special guest. Nikita Jackson, a Rock Hill City Council member and York County Democratic Party chair, recalled how Jesse Jackson was a calm and generous man with his time during the Winthrop event.
“He was so warm and welcoming, he made you feel like there was a sense of calm,” Nikita Jackson said.
Jesse Jackson made other appearances at Winthrop and Clinton College, Rock Hill’s historic Black college, over the years. He spoke at Winthrop in 2007 not long before then-candidate Barack Obama came to campaign at the school.
At Clinton in October 2015, Jackson told students about the importance of exercising their right to vote and making their voices heard in the political process. He spoke of the disparities about race and the poor in America that he had pushed against his entire life.
Jackson that day urged young people to first register to vote, then vote.
“There is a culture of exploiting race, poverty, and it’s tugging at the soul of America,” Jackson said at Clinton College in 2015. “It’s time to step forward.”
In 2015, Jackson spoke at a town hall style event at Freedom Temple Ministries, where he answered questions from the public. S.C. Rep. John King, D-Rock Hill, sat with Jackson that evening as Jackson talked about such issues as the importance of health care and Medicaid for all Americans.
King posted on his Facebook page Tuesday that Jackson was a driving force in the civil rights movement whose legacy remains.
“Rev. Jackson was not just a participant in the Civil Rights Movement he was a driving force within it,“ King posted.
King, who knew Jackson personally, told The Herald Tuesday the country has lost “a great man.”
Jackson was a civil rights pioneer in South Carolina before becoming a national figure. In 1960 Jackson and others were arrested after trying to desegregate the Greenville public library.
David Williamson Jr., one of Rock Hill’s Friendship Nine civil rights protesters who spent a month in jail in 1961 for sitting at whites-only lunch counter, said Tuesday Jackson was always a strong voice in the movement for equality.
