Jesse Jackson, a Freemason
Everyone knows Jesse Jackson as a civil rights activist, a man who fought against all forms of discrimination, a politician who aspired to the White House and who is often seen as Martin Luther King's successor. But did you know that Jesse Jackson was also a Freemason, a member of Prince Hall's African-American Freemasonry? Let's find out more about this deeply involved figure in American public and political life. And let's try to understand whether Freemasonry has played a role in his commitment to many humanist causes.
The life and work of Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina on 8 October 1941. His mother, Helen Burns, was 16 at the time and his father, Noah Louis Robinson, was twice his age and already married. Little Jesse was therefore named Burns before his mother married Charles Henry Jackson, who adopted him and gave him his name.
Jesse Jackson grew up under segregation laws and was teased by his schoolmates about his illegitimate birth. By his own admission, this helped to shape his character. The social situation, which seemed frozen, began to change with the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, led by Rosa Parks (1913-2095), which launched the fight for civil rights and the abolition of segregation laws, achieved in 1964.
The figure of the Baptist minister Martin Luther King (1929-1968) dominated this period. Together with other ministers and politicians, King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, which is still the main organisation defending civil rights in the United States. Jesse Jackson joined this movement and became something of a protégé of Martin Luther King. He was at King's side when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on 4 April 1968.
Already holding a bachelor's degree in sociology from North Carolina State University, Jesse Jackson undertook theological studies in Chicago and was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968.
His career as an activist was a busy one. In 1966, Martin Luther King put him in charge of Operation Breadbasket, based in Chicago. This branch of the SCLC worked mainly to help African-Americans find jobs or set up businesses. In 1971, Jesse Jackson founded PUSH (People United To Serve Humanity), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the civil rights of African-Americans. And in 1984, he founded a second association, the Rainbow Coalition, which extended the fight to the defence of all minorities, ethnic, religious and sexual. The two organisations merged in 1996 to form Rainbow/PUSH.
But Jesse Jackson was not content to remain active in the voluntary sector only. He also became involved in politics, in the ranks of the Democratic Party, where he represented the most progressive wing. In 1984 and 1988, he ran in the Democratic primaries in the hope of being elected President of the United States.
Jesse Jackson, Freemason
Jesse Jackson joined Freemasonry rather late in life. He was initiated by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois of Prince Hall Freemasonry when he was 46 years old. He probably hadn't had time before then because, by his own admission, he had always had a good image of Freemasonry. Indeed, having grown up in the South, he said he had been favourably impressed by the Freemasons he had seen there. In his words, all these Freemasons had 'stature, dignity and a sense of covenant with each other '.
It is therefore not surprising that Jesse Jackson has joined Freemasonry, recognising it as an institution that works for human dignity and against discrimination, violence and hatred. Freemasons can be proud to count among their ranks a great figure in the fight for civil rights.
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