Rev. Jesse Jackson’s key quotes on race and politics

The Associated Press said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at age 84, was known not only as a civil-rights advocate but as one of its most dynamic orators. The reporting highlighted speeches he gave across decades on issues including voting rights and housing, as well as his role as leader of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and as a presidential candidate in the 1980s. In later years, the AP said, he also spoke for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Among the lines the AP associated with Jackson’s public voice was the “I Am — Somebody” message, a poem that the AP said became synonymous with him even though it was not written by Jackson. The AP’s compilation includes the verse: “I may be poor, / But I am Somebody. / I may be young, / But I am Somebody. / I may be on welfare, / But I am Somebody.”

The AP also pointed to Jackson’s theme of pairing education with political participation. In remarks described by the AP as tied to PUSH Excel, Jackson spoke in Chicago in the 1970s about equity in education and voting rights, saying, “Senior high school graduation must be seen as a passage of rites into adulthood. On that graduation day or night, we must put a diploma in one hand symbolizing knowledge and wisdom, and put a voter registration card in that other hand symbolizing power and responsibility.”

Another contrast the AP said Jackson used to explain change was framed in terms of tears versus work. The AP’s compilation quoted him saying, “Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change.”

The Associated Press also highlighted Jackson’s language about America’s social fabric. The AP said Jackson told the Democratic National Convention in 1984 during his first run for president that “America is not like a blanket — one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size.” The AP reported that he compared the country instead to “a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.”

In describing Jackson’s political pitch as he nearly captured the Democratic nomination in 1988, the AP quoted him telling the party convention, “You must not surrender. You may or may not get there, but just know that you’re qualified and you hold on and hold out.” The AP said Jackson followed with the repeated phrase, “We must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. On tomorrow night and beyond, keep hope alive.”

The AP’s compilation included remarks the AP said Jackson made to students at Kansas State University in November 1993. In that quote, the AP said Jackson described the struggle as defensive “as a humane struggle” and argued that “Fear: it is pushing hope back. Cowardice is pushing courage back. Death is taking the joy of life. Dope is outdistancing hope. Escapism is outdistancing embrace.” The AP reported that he added, “When youth come alive, you have the energy, the strength, the need, and the moral authority to make America better and the whole world more secure.”

The AP also quoted Jackson linking racial justice to economic outcomes at a September 2008 dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge. In the AP’s account, Jackson said the bridge “must lead to more futures and fewer young funerals” and “must embrace Dr. King’s last dream, a poor people’s campaign, where all could come together with a job, income, education, and health care.” The AP reported that he described the span as “a bridge that leads us from racial battleground to economic common ground” and said it “leads us to healing.”

In later remarks the AP described, Jackson also emphasized reaching beyond limits. The AP said Jackson told students at the Cambridge Union Society in England in December 2013, “Common ground leads to coalition, to cooperation, to reconciliation and redemption, and to higher moral and economic ground,” and he urged, “keep reaching beyond your grasp, keep dreaming beyond your circumstances, keep dreaming of a new Europe. When young people move, the world changes.”