Photo caption: REV. JESSE L. JACKSON, SR. (seated at microphone) is pictured with Bishop Tavis Grant on Saturday, July 8, 2023 as he announces he will be stepping down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in a few weeks. He said there will be a new president. (Photo by Chinta Strausberg)
by Chinta Strausberg, The Chicago Crusader
Having launched his civil rights career 57 years ago, Reverend Jesse Jackson, on Saturday, July 8, said he is stepping down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and that “there will be a new president soon.” He will announce his selection in a few weeks.
Jackson, who was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017, made the announcement on the weekly PUSH broadcast and afterward to volunteers working on the 57th annual convention, being held from July 15 to July 19. The theme of the international convention is “The Perilous Journey From Freedom to Equality.”
During the convention on Monday, July 17, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jackson will receive the highest civilian award from the country of Colombia. Two years ago he received a similar award from France. The award presentation will take place at the University of Chicago’s David Rubinstein Forum, 1201 E. 60th St.
“It is quite impactful to have nations to reward Reverend Jackson for his global work. It is a testament to his day-to-day tenacity,” said Bishop Tavis Grant, acting national executive director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
In 1959 while a student at the University of Illinois, Jackson went home to Greenville, South Carolina. He went to the Black library to do research, but the books he needed were not there. When he went to the library downtown, he was told Blacks were not allowed.
Jackson returned in the summer of 1960 and with seven other students held a sit-in at the downtown library. His social justice activism led to the integration of that library.
Ironically, most of the convention will be held at the campus of the University of…
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