Jesse Jackson

“Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.”

“Those companies that don't see the black and brown communities are missing, out of their closed eye, talent, which leads to money and growth. When baseball, football and basketball couldn't see the field, they missed talent and growth. The same is true in the tech industry.”

“So much talent comes from the base of poverty and those in the margins. You limit the base, you miss too much talent.”

“There is no power in cynicism. There is no forward thrust in cynicism.”

“There have been more people disenfranchised in Washington than there have been in Kuwait.”

“You know, people'd always ask 'Why is Jesse Jackson running for the White House?' They never seen the house I'm running from.”

“Fighting disparities is very significant.”

“What is the American dream? The American dream is one big tent. One big tent. And on that big tent you have four basic promises: equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, and fair share.”

“America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth.”

“Music of all arts should be expansive and inclusive.”

“The relationship between the prophet and the President, the priest and the President, is a sacred one.”

“So many bright stars, bright in life, burn out quickly.”

“When journalists and politicians speak of a dwindling middle class that's under economic assault and a poor community that's getting bigger, they're talking about Ferguson. Independent of the racial demographics and dynamics of Ferguson, Missouri, there's a 'Ferguson' near you.”

“Urban America has been redlined. Government has not offered tax incentives for investment, as it has in a dozen foreign markets. Banks have redlined it. Industries have moved out, they've redlined it. Clearly, to break up the redlining process, there must be incentives to green-line with hedges against risk.”

“People internalize, from the jail to student loan debt, to credit card debt, to unemployment to the whole collective. It manifests itself in many ways, in people's home lives, domestic stuff.”

“Ronald Reagan was older than I was when he ran for president.”

“I want to make America better!”

“From seeds of his body blossomed the flower that liberated a people and touched the soul of a nation.”

“At least the politicians are accountable to the voters.”

“Many have fought for and even lost their lives to end segregation, to win the right to vote. It disappoints me to now have to cajole people to register and to vote.”