A biography for Jesse Jacksonhasn’t been written yet.
“Humanitarian appeals always help. They penetrate deeper than political tradeoffs.”
“Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.”
“If you think black people have a motivation problem, open up a Wal-Mart and advertise a thousand jobs. Watch 5,000 people show up.”
“If there are occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me. Charge it to my head and not to my heart.”
“Many kids come out of college, they have a credit card and a diploma. They don't know how to buy a house or a car or health insurance or life insurance. They do not know basic microeconomics.”
“Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.”
“I came to the conclusion that in order to end racial barriers, I needed to run for the office of the president and put forth an agenda of social justice and world peace. In addition, I concluded that someone needed to run and challenge the liberal orthodoxy.”
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.”
“I hear that melting-pot stuff a lot, and all I can say is that we haven't melted.”
“I cast my bread on the waters long ago. Now it's time for you to send it back to me - toasted and buttered on both sides.”
“In many ways, history is marked as 'before' and 'after' Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down.”
“If the states had to vote on slavery, we would have lost the vote.”
“There's great disparity between who goes to college and who goes to jail. Who lives long and who dies prematurely, is the defining issue of our time. And I submit to you, there's a significant race dimension, it is basically class-driven.”
“If a black doctor discovers a cure for cancer, ain't no hospital going to lock him out.”
“George Bush has met more foreign heads of state than I have. But a substantial number of them were dead.”
“Keep hope alive!”
“Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise isn't the presence of justice - and we must demand justice in Ferguson and the other 'Fergusons' around America.”
“I think reconciliation is Obama's goal - but the fight with the Republicans is like a fight with pit bulls, they never let go. Even worse, now the Republicans feel they can keep pushing and he will keep giving. They have not seen a stiff resistance on his part.”
“No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams.”
“The great responsibility that we have today is to put the poor and the near poor back on front of the American agenda.”