Visits to the UK by the legendary civil rights leader Rev’d Jesse Jackson are always inspiring and this year was no exception.
I saw him on Thursday at a large community event at the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham, and yesterday at a reception at the American Embassy in London. Both events, organised by Operation Black Vote, were in honor of Rev’d Dr Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech 50 years ago.
As always, Rev’d Jackson inspired his audience that the issues of racism and discrimination can be tackled and no challenge is too big if there is a united movement and brave leaders. His message is that the civil rights movement in 1960s America faced seemingly insurmountable challenges but stepped forward without fear.
Rev’d Jackson stands not just as an icon who was by Dr King’s side throughout the struggle but as someone who advocates organising and strategising.
He began his Tottenham talk by arguing that “I Have A Dream” was merely the final flourish of a speech which should have been known as “The Broken Promises” speech. For the primary message of that delivery on the steps of the Lincoln Monument was that America had broken its’ promises to African-Americans and that it was time to start to deliver on civil rights laws.
Me, Diane Abbott, David Lammy and Sharon Grant listen to Rev’d Jackson
That was the whole point of the March on Washington; to put pressure on John F Kennedy to move from behind-the-scenes sympathy and public caution to open support for equal rights.
The speech wasn’t to dream but to demand. What Dr King dreamed of was that the peoples’ demands would be acted upon.
Both OBV events were played rare footage of a Dr King speech accepting an honorary doctorate from Newcastle University (he earned a genuine doctorate before that) in which he argued that while legislation cannot change peoples’ hearts it can change their behavior.
“It cannot make anyone love me but it can prevent someone from lynching me, and that’s quite important to me”, he said.
The message about the importance of legislation is relevant to Britain at a time in which the present government has rolled back equalities laws. Rev’d Jackson was clear that laws set the standards of society and can help change hearts as well in the long term.
Rev’d Jackson also stressed the importance of voting, especially for young people, a message he also reinforced with visits to schools in Birmingham and Lewisham. And he said that Britain’s black community must exercise its’ collective power.
He may be 71 years old now and does not carry the same weight amongst the grassroots in America as he once did however it is undeniable that Rev’d Jackson continues to stand for a positive message that nothing is impossible if we believe.
By Lester Holloway @brolezholloway
