JESSE JACKSON
Born October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jesse Jackson is a political leader as well as a civil rights leader. Jesse attended the Chicago Theological Seminary, and was ordained a minister in 1968. He served as executive director of Operation Breadbasket, a program of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that addressed the economic problems of Black men and women in northern cities. he then created PUSH a group meant to combat racism. In 1986 he became president of the National Rainbow Coalitioon, an independent political organization charged with uniting racial minorities , the poor peace activists, and environmentalists. in 1984 and 1988 Reverend Jackson campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president, becoming the first black person to seriously contend for that political office.