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Politics
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.:
congressman, activist
Although Jesse Jackson Jr. was born the son of an African-American civil rights leader, it was the struggle for South African civil rights that launched his foray into nonviolent protest, and eventually politics. Jackson spent his 21st birthday in 1986 in a Washington jail after participating in a demonstration against South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation, according to Jackson's Web site. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995, the 91st person of his race ever to serve in Congress. He has used his office to influence African American issues both within Congress and through congressional legislation, according to the Almanac of American Politics.
FULL NAME
Jesse Jackson Jr.
BORN
March 11, 1965 (as his father Jesse Jackson Sr. was marching to Selma, Alabama, with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., according to the Almanac of American Politics)
EDUCATION
Bachelor of science in business management, magna cum laude from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1987; master of arts in theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary, 1990; juris doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law, 1993, according to Jackson's Web site.
CAREER
Before beginning his political career, Jackson followed his father's activist footsteps by serving as president of the Keep Hope Alive political action committee from 1989 to 1990 and as vice president of Operation PUSH from 1991 to 1995.
Jackson won election to Congress in 1995 after a special election to replace Mel Reynolds of the Illinois 2nd District who had resigned due to a scandal. In Congress, Jackson worked to advance his agenda of racial equality in various ways. For instance, he criticized powerful House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Gerald Solomon of New York for ordering the display of a portrait of former Rep. Howard Smith, a staunch segregationist, according to the Almanac of American Politics. As ranking member of a subcommittee on small business, Jackson has worked to improve conditions for businesses in his home district, which includes much of the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. "In office Jackson combined advocacy of left-wing positions with the exercise of shrewd political instincts," the almanac said.
AWARDS
Honorary doctorate degrees from Chicago theological Seminary, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Governors State University, according to Jackson's Web site.
PERSONAL
Jackson is married to Sandra Jackson and has a daughter, Jessica Donatella, according to Jackson's Web site.
WEBSITE
http://www.jessejacksonjr.org/
