Jesse Jackson

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

1. April 14, 1981 Jesse Jackson gives the fourth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture The Rev. Jesse Jackson of Operation PUSH told a Memorial Hall audience that young Black people should stretch their talents for extraordinary gains, keep up a strong resistance movement, and study technology, business and other fields to build a Black economy. Place: Memorial Hall, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), April 21, 1981, p. 3 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1981, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, February 24, 1981, p. 3
2. 1982 Yonni Chapman and Fred Battle found the Orange County Rainbow Coalition of Conscience Chapman and Fred Battle co-founded the Orange County Rainbow Coalition of Conscience, which worked on local school politics and on Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns. In April 1985 Battle told the Daily Tar Heel that the Rainbow Coalition grew out of the Jackson campaign and combined with the Coalition of Conscience in 1984; in the fall of 1984 the paper called his group the Rainbow Coalition of Orange County. People: Yonni Chapman, Fred Battle, Jesse Jackson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · NCpedia: Chapman, John Kenyon (Yonni) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 12, 1985, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, October 30, 1984, p. 2; The Daily Tar Heel, February 21, 1985, p. 2
3. September 19, 1984 Jesse Jackson urges students to register and vote at a Memorial Hall rally Jesse Jackson, campaigning for the Mondale-Ferraro ticket, told a Memorial Hall audience that students held the balance of power in the coming election and asked the unregistered to sign up in the lobby. The drive was sponsored by the BSM, the Black Greek Council, the Rainbow Coalition of Orange County, People Against Racism and other groups. Place: Memorial Hall, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), September 27, 1984, p. 1
4. September 11, 1987 Nine presidential candidates debate education at the Smith Center The UNC system's Education '88 forum brought all seven Democratic presidential candidates, Bruce Babbitt, Joseph Biden, Michael Dukakis, Richard Gephardt, Albert Gore Jr., Jesse Jackson and Paul Simon, to the Dean E. Smith Center for a morning session moderated by former Gov. Jim Hunt, and Republicans Jack Kemp and Pierre du Pont for an afternoon session opened by Gov. Jim Martin. The University did not cancel classes for it, and an anti-apartheid banner was unfurled from the upper level. People: Jesse Jackson Place: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill · Also named: Jim Hunt, Jim Martin, Bruce Babbitt, Joseph Biden, Michael Dukakis, Richard Gephardt, Albert Gore Jr., Paul Simon, Jack Kemp, Pierre du PontSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 14, 1987, p. 1
5. by February 15, 1988 A Jesse Jackson presidential campaign center opens on West Rosemary Street Supporters of Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign ran a campaign center at 342 1/2 West Rosemary Street, open seven days a week, to build support among Orange County residents and offer voter registration, voter education and fundraising help. Place: 342 1/2 West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: West Rosemary StreetSearch the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), February 15, 1988, p. 8
6. April 14–15, 1993 Jesse Jackson comes to Chapel Hill during the Black Cultural Center sit-in Jesse Jackson came to Chapel Hill on Wednesday, April 14, 1993, while students occupied South Building for a free-standing Black Cultural Center. He visited the sit-in in the South Building rotunda that afternoon and spoke to a near-capacity crowd in Memorial Hall that night. Early on April 15 he met first with Chancellor Hardin, at a breakfast Hardin moved to his home on Country Club Road, and urged him to call a special trustees' meeting, which Hardin refused. Jackson left campus that morning; sixteen students and a Chapel Hill resident were arrested later that day. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Memorial Hall, Black Cultural Center, Country Club RoadSearch the index · Reclaiming the University of the People: The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1993, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, April 16, 1993, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, August 23, 1993, p. 1
7. April 14, 1993 UNC athletes form the first branch of the Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Athletics Speaking to a near-capacity Memorial Hall during his visit for the Black Cultural Center campaign, Jesse Jackson called on UNC athletes to form the commission's first campus branch, and about 25 Black and white athletes answered, aiming at better academic conditions and graduation rates for athletes. Former pro football player Kellen Winslow was named liaison, and the group set its first meeting at the Stone Center. People: Jesse Jackson Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Kellen Winslow · Also mentions: Black Cultural CenterThe Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1993, p. 1
8. May 16, 1993 Jesse Jackson speaks at the UNC School of Law commencement On May 16, 1993 the Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed School of Law graduates in Memorial Hall, urging them to work for racial and economic justice and backing the Black Cultural Center. People: Jesse Jackson Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Black Cultural Center, School of LawSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 20, 1993, p. 1
9. August 9, 2000 Jesse Jackson receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom President Bill Clinton presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jesse Jackson at a White House ceremony. People: Bill Clinton Place: White House, Washington, D.C.Search the index · Clinton White House archive: Remarks of the President at Medal of Freedom Awards Ceremony (8/9/00)