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Everyone has a calling, whether they are conscious of it or not.  The Rev. Jesse  Jackson’s seems to be public oration and the power to instill hope. 

Even if that hope seems ethereal and almost impossible to see.

Jackson spoke Monday evening in the Memorial Chapel, which was jammed to capacity with ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students and others. He addressed pressing social and political issues and his desire to unify the nation under a common truth and ameliorate racial, gender, and class-driven economic rifts in a four-part struggle he says America has been engaged in since its inception.

Jackson is founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a progressive foundation dedicated to social change. 

Often referred to as the ‘conscience of the nation’ because of  his desire to transcend skin-colored boundaries and unite the nation, Jackson urged the students to cease marginalizing fellow American citizens.  If we as a nation can ‘free ourselves’ from this degenerative thinking and see the truth of our inherent equality, then ‘the truth shall set us free.’

‘Strong minds break strong chains,’ he said.

Jackson argued the need for a ‘level playing field,’ where racial delineations disappear.  He equated society to a football field, where rules and regulations are made public, and all participants, despite their race, are subject to the same conditions.

‘When the playing field is even, the rules are public, and the goals clear, we can all achieve.  We can feel a sense of justice,’ he said. 

The American dream, he furthered, is that level playing field.

The nation, over its history, has struggled to enact its vision of seamless equality.  Jackson divided that overarching struggle into four separate struggles: ending slavery, ending segregation in  public accommodations, achieving the right to vote, and access to capital.

America stands on the brink of the fourth struggle, he said.  All Americans need access to capital and the private sector to excel; part and parcel of that ‘level playing field.’

Jackson reviewed 300 years of American history to contextualize the other three struggles of African-Americans, some the nation has only come to achieve in the past 50  years.  He pointed out the hypocrisy of relegating Black History Month to February, thereby ‘marginalizing’ the history of African-American people as the remaining eleven months are spent celebrating ‘history’ in its broadest sense.  To partition history by culture and race is to compromise the many constituents of our nation, Jackson said.

‘We need to put it [this history of other races and cultures] in the center.  This is who we are: the sum total of our collective experiences,’ he said of Americans.

Jackson turned his focus to students directly and urged them to vote.  By embracing the ideals of democracy, one can make a difference in the future of the country.  Bush beat Gore in the infamous 2000 election by the number of people present in the Chapel, Jackson said.  As it is now, he said, the fate of the country is handled behind closed doors.  To make a difference in this system can only be accomplished through making one’s voice heard. 

‘Each generation is an opportunity to make this a more perfect union.  Young America, come alive. When we do, we make great things happen,’ he said.

His point was timely. Members of the Progressive Student Network (PSN), led by senior Lauren Bregman, were stationed in the foyer of the Chapel as part of a campuswide voter registration drive that kicked off in November.  PSN members urged students to take five minutes of their time to register for the upcoming election.

The event was sponsored in part by The Brothers, a group addressing issues of importance to men of color on campus, with the campus at large in mind.

Their goal, senior and former president Antwone Porter said, was for people to listen with an objective mind.

‘I wanted people to listen to what he said, and to think about what to do with what he said.  To listen to how we can fight the four-part struggle.  It’s not about white versus black, but equality for all.  We need that equal playing field.  People must better represent so we can strive as a nation,’ he said.

Jackson’s urge for political activism and voter registration resonated with students, many of whom argued it was the most compelling part of his speech.

But at the same time, many worried that talk of action will remain just that: talk.

‘The most important and frustrating thing is raising your own political consciousness.  It’s something we all have to do and need to do, but frankly, we just don’t practice it.  No one here talks about it, or at least, not enough,’ said senior Alejandro Delgado. 

‘I believe that we’ll have an RPC chapter on campus.  Whether that means substantive change for the future, I don’t know.  We have to start living our beliefs before we teach them.  All of us do things to perpetuate oppression, whether it’s against other classes, genders, or races.  Too often we try to compartmentalize, when in a lot of ways, we’re all one.’

‘The point of his inspirational message is that he hasn’t lost hope.  It’s easy to lose hope sometimes.  We still have to dream.  That’s a man who is 62 years old and he’s been through the worst of the worst, and he still believes there is hope,’ Delgado said.

Others echoed Delgado’s skepticism about ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students’ ability to act out their goals and beliefs.

‘I’m curious to see how much will be taken out of the Chapel and actually applied,’ said junior Alexis Yancey.

The enlivening of Jackson’s vision on campus is yet to be determined.  Redirecting one’s vision is just as important as enacting tangible change, he argued; a point Porter and others hope will resonate with students.

Because, as Jackson said, ‘strong minds break strong chains.’

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Jess Buchsbaum
Communications Department
315.228.6637