Jesse Jackson’s Son Rips Obama, Biden for Using Father’s Memorial To Take Shots at Trump

Former President Barack Obama gives remarks at memorial for Rev. Jesse Jackson.

 

Anti-violence protesters plan to shut down Chicago freeway

By Bradford Betz | Fox News

 

In this Dec. 31, 2016 file photo, The Rev. Michael Pfleger, center, Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, and state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, right, led hundreds in a march down Michigan Avenue, carrying crosses for all those killed by Chicago violence in 2016 and to call for an end to violence in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) 

A group of protesters were planning Saturday to march down a major Chicago highway as part of a broader push to increase pressure on public officials to address the gun violence that's claimed hundreds of lives in the city.

The Dan Ryan Expressway -- a freeway that incorporates portions of Interstates 90 and 94 -- was chosen for its historical significance, having been a symbol of racial segregation in the 1960s.

Chicago police said the city saw 252 homicides and 1,100 shootings in the first six months of this year, a decrease from the same period last year. But those crimes have been heavily concentrated in predominantly black, low-income neighborhoods.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and anti-violence activist on the city's South Side who will lead Saturday's march, said the protesters will carry a banner with a list of demands. They include: more resources, jobs, better schools and stronger gun laws — things Pfleger says they've been seeking for years.

"When people keep ignoring you, you take it up a notch. ... We are going to continue to take it up a notch until we get responses." - The Rev. Michael Pfleger

"When people keep ignoring you, you take it up a notch," Pfleger said. "We are going to continue to take it up a notch until we get responses."

Hundreds and possibly thousands of people, including other clergy, residents and community leaders, were expected to join the march, despite police warnings that any pedestrian who enters the expressway faces arrest and prosecution.

Illinois State Police, which has jurisdiction over expressways, said the march could put lives in "grave danger," including protesters, motorists and people needing access to emergency services who may be blocked or delayed.

"This call to protest on the Dan Ryan, however well-intentioned, is reckless," Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz said.

Pfleger and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who's also leading the protest, argue they've already tried marching through neighborhood streets, outside churches and along downtown's Michigan Avenue, and that nothing has changed.

Jackson said the city still has "ghetto borders" — real or imagined — designed to keep "guns and drugs in and jobs and schools out."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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National Baptist convention draws 40,000 to Dallas, including civil rights leader Jesse Jackson

By Stephanie Embree

sembree@dallasnews.com
2:42 pm on June 18, 2014 | Permalink

The Rev. George W. Waddles Sr. is president of the Congress.

The convention center in downtown Dallas has become home to 40,000 people in town for the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education.

Church leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will join Baptists from all 50 states, the Caribbean islands, Germany and Africa for one of the largest African-American meetings this year.

“We are a Christian body, and our overall objective is to follow the biblical direction and make disciples,” said the Rev. George W. Waddles Sr., president of the National Baptist Congress.

Through Saturday, members can attend over 300 morning classes dealing with topics such as Christian doctrine and how to be an effective deacon. In the afternoons, there are youth or children rallies and lectures from leaders who will address issues facing church members.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson will speak tonight. (AP photo)

Waddles said the convention aims to teach church leaders and members how to “be more faithful to the call of Christ,” and how to build a family and community on a foundation of faith.

Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Martin Luther King Jr., is speaking at a scholarship banquet where college students will be presented with the Dream Makers Scholarship. The program, a partnership with Office Depot, has distributed over $300,000 in the last four years.

The National Baptist Congress, which represents around 7,000 churches in the U.S. and abroad, chose to hold its convention in Dallas after being invited by local reverends. Waddles said that Dallas has been more welcoming than cities they’ve visited in the past.

“There are two things I want the citizens of Dallas to know,” he said. “The first is that we are a diverse group. There’s no one mold that fits us except that we believe in the Lord. The second is that we come as witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t come to offend anybody or shove it down their throats.”

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Jesse Jackson joins Ohio union workers in opposition to collective bargaining reform

Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 1:19 PM Updated: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 5:17 PM
By Joe Guillen, The Plain Dealer



Max Gersh, Associated Press
Jesse Jackson joins protesters last week in Wisconsin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson revved up union workers at a downtown rally today to oppose Senate Bill 5, a Republican-backed proposal to overhaul the state's collective bargaining law.

A few hundred laborers packed the basement of a Teamsters union hall, a day after about 5,500 union supporters descended on the Statehouse to oppose the bill, which is supported by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

"Workers must not be the scapegoat for a rather profound economic crisis," Jackson said, surrounded by local elected officials, union leaders and clergymen. "Tell the governor, 'We're going to act. We're not going back!' "

Ohio has joined Wisconsin and other states in a growing debate over unions' rights. Republicans pushing to weaken unions argue current rules are tilted in public workers' favor, pushing excessive labor costs on taxpayers.

Jackson visited with protesters in Wisconsin last week.

Today, Jackson said American workers are being unfairly blamed. Instead, he pointed at greed on Wall Street and companies that move jobs to cheap labor markets overseas.

"It's easier to attack workers than to attack cheap labor," Jackson said.

Throughout his 20-minute speech, Jackson led the workers in call-and-response chants. His words drew consistent applause and calls of "That's right!" from the crowd.

"We together make America strong," Jackson said.


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