Remember When: Celebrating Jesse Jackson and Coalition Politics

On October 8, 1941, Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. was born in Greenville, South Carolina. A close ally of Dr. King, Jackson led Operation Breadbasket to leverage Black consumer power for fair hiring and pay, later founding the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to advance voting rights, economic justice, and human dignity.

His barrier-breaking presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 expanded the electorate and popularized a vision of a “Rainbow Coalition”—a multiracial, multi-faith, working-class movement that insists America is strongest when everyone has a voice.

Jackson’s playbook—register voters, build broad coalitions, and center the most marginalized—remains a roadmap for progress on today’s issues: protecting the vote, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ equality, living wages, and equitable schools. As he likes to say, “Keep hope alive.” The work continues with every registration form signed, every school board meeting attended, and every neighbor brought into the conversation.