Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson to speak at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. will discuss the evolving cultural landscape in the Deep South Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Center ballroom at The University of Alabama.

The event is free and open to the public.

Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition non-profit civil rights advocacy group, will deliver a speech titled “New South, New Challenges.” The event is sponsored by the Black Student Union, University Programs and the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

For nearly 50 years, Jackson has helped advocate for numerous movements for “peace, civil rights, empowerment, gender equality and economic and social justice,” according to RainbowPUSH.org.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2013, the South African government bestowed upon him its highest civilian honor, the National Order, or “Companions of O.R. Tambo.”

Jackson became a full-time organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was appointed by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to direct the Operation Breadbasket program in 1965. In December of 1971, he founded Operation PUSH, or People United to Serve Humanity, in Chicago to help expand educational, business and employment opportunities for disadvantaged people of color.

In 1984, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization based in Washington, D.C. devoted to political empowerment, education and changing public policy. Operation PUSH merged with the Rainbow Coalition in 1996.

Jackson ran for president of the United States twice and served as “shadow” senator for Washington D.C for six years. He continues to advocate for universal health care, equal administration of justice in all communities and sufficient funding for enforcement of civil rights laws.

FOR MEDIA: Media are invited to attend the event. Reporters will be required to present press credentials to enter the event. Please RSVP with Shane Dorrill, UA Strategic Communications, at shane.dorrill@ua.edu.

PARKING FOR MEDIA: Reserved parking spaces will be available at the southeast corner of North Ferguson.