The Civil Rights movement saw the emergence of the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. as a leader. Jackson formed groups for economic fairness, ran for president twice, and engaged in negotiations with a variety of foreign leaders throughout the course of a long career that was alternatively distinguished by success and controversy. Jesse Jackson is known for his distinctive and compelling speaking style.
Jesse was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1941. Jackson enrolled in the Chicago Theological Seminary with the intention of becoming a pastor after earning his degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, but he left in 1966 to devote himself entirely to the civil rights movement. Without having acquired a theological degree, he was ordained in 1968. In 1990, he was given an honorary theological doctorate from Chicago. In 2000, he received his Master of Divinity degree based on his prior credits gained, as well as his life experience and future activity.
Jesse Jackson first saw Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 while participating in the well-known Selma March in Alabama. Jesse Jackson became deeply active in the Dr. King-led Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Jackson has been an important player in world diplomacy throughout his career as a political and social activist. Jackson visited war-torn Sierra Leone in May 1999 and mediated a cease-fire between rebel Foday Sankoh and Tejan Kabbah, the president of the nation. More than 2000 prisoners of war were released after negotiations led by Jackson. He went back to Sierra Leone to help with the nation's peacekeeping efforts a year later.
