Rev. Jesse Jackson to speak at Randolph

Jesse Jackson

The Rev. Jesse Jackson will speak at Randolph College Monday, September 18 at 4 p.m. in Smith Hall Theatre as part of his “Healing and Rebuilding” bus tour around Virginia. No tickets are required, and doors will open at 3 p.m.

The talk is part of an effort to reach out to young voters and encourage voter registration and engagement. Randolph is one of three stops in Lynchburg. He will also speak at the Virginia University of Lynchburg at 2:30 and Diamond Hill Baptist Church (1415 Grace Street) at 6 p.m.

Jackson’s talk at Randolph is free and open to the public. However, please note that motorists should be aware of potential traffic congestion in the Rivermont Avenue area.

Jackson, an American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician, is also founder and president of the Rainbow People United to Save Humanity (PUSH) Coalition. Twice a candidate for president, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil, rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Born on Oct. 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson graduated from the public schools in Greenville and then enrolled in the University of Illinois on a football scholarship. He later transferred to North Carolina A&T State University and graduated in 1964. He began his theological studies at Chicago Theological Seminary but deferred his studies when he began working full-time in the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King, Jr. He was ordained on June 30, 1968 by Rev. Clay Evans and received his earned Master of Divinity degree from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2000.

A renowned orator and activist, Jackson has received numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social change. In 1991, the U.S. Post Office put his likeness on a pictorial postal cancellation, only the second living person to receive such an honor. He has been on the Gallup List of the Ten Most Respected Americans for more than a dozen years. He has received the prestigious NAACP Spingarn Award in addition to honors from hundreds of grassroots, civic, and community organizations from coast to coast.