*Jackson Creek
Middle School*
*American Hero:
Jesse Jackson*
*Biography*
Jesse Jackson was born October 8, 1941. He was born
around 9:00 A.M. and he weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces. Jesse's
mother, Helen Burns had Jesse while she was in high school at the
age of 16. It was a very hard time for her. Many people turned on
her because she was pregnant at such a young age and had a baby
with out being married. Helen was known to be one of the
prettiest girls in Greenville, South Carolin and to have the best
voice at Sterling High School. Five singing colleges were
offering Helen a place at their colleges while she was still only
in high school. Helen's mother, Matilda, had gone through the
same thing and was not very willing to help out Helen. She was
very angry and told her, "It's your own
responsibility." Helen also lost a lot of respect from other
family members, her classmates townspeople and her church. She
was expelled from the congregation by worshippers at the
Springfield Baptist Church. After she said that she sinned
against her church they let her back in. With all this pressure
and feeling like everyone was against her, Helen ran away with
Jesse's dad to Chicago. When she got there, things were not too
good, so she returned home to Greenville.
Two years after Jesse was born, Helen
married Charles Jackson. Charles was not Jesse's biological
father, but he was a hard worker and good at being a good example
for Jesse. At the time they got married Charles was 24 years old
and working at a postal office. They had only been together for a
short time when Charles had to go to war. Everyone knew that
Charles was not Jesse's father, but Helen did not want Jesse to
know it. She would always show him pictures and things of Charles
in his uniform to make Jesse think that Charles was his father.
When Charles got home from war, he did the exact same thing Helen
did, and tried to make Jesse think he was his dad. He didn't want
Jesse to feel that he was different from everyone else. That
didn't work too well. By the age of 6, neighborhood kids would
follow him around calling him a nobody and telling him Charles
was not his real father. Helen said that Jesse came home and
would run into her arms in tears. Jesse found out that Charles
was not his real father through his grandma and kids his age.
Noah Robinson was Jesse's real father.
People said that Noah was the best known black man in Greenville
when Jesse was born. Noah lived in a good neighborhood and worked
at Ryan textile mill. Noah had another son, Noah Robinson Junior.
By the age of 7, Noah, Jr. found out about Jesse being his half
brother. While playing at the playground a lady and a few
children called him over. They pointed out Jesse and told him
that he was his half brother. That night, when Noah came home,
his father explained everything. When Jesse was 10, Noah, Sr.
wanted to visit Jesse while Jesse played at the playground. He
would also frequently slip money to Helen for Jesse and on
Christmas he sent her a basket full of goods. Noah's wife did not
want to be reminded of Noah's affair with Helen. Jesse wanted to
be with his dad, just as his dad wanted to be with him. Jesse
would always go to their house and just look in and see if he
could see his dad. When Noah Jr. would tell his dad Jesse was out
there, he would go out and wave to him. Jesse would wave back,
but then run away. Sadly, no one ever invited Jesse in. Later on
Noah's and Jesse's families worked things out and Jesse was
allowed in his biological father's house regularly. Charles was
behind Jesse through everything. In 1957, when Jesse was 16,
Charles legally adopted him. Jesse had truly grown to love the
man.
Jesse was both an all around athlete and a good
student. When he was a senior, he was a National Junior Honor
Society Student. Jesse was a great athlete. He played quarterback
for his school, Sterling High School. Because of segregation,
Blacks were not allowed to do many things, such as going out to
certain restaurants, use public drinking fountains and bathrooms.
Jesse and other blacks would joke about it. Jesse would say that
the reason the black and white football teams would not play
against each other was because the whites were scared the blacks
would beat them since the blacks were better. That was probably
true, especially with Jesse as the quarterback.
Whenever the white and black kids played
ball against each other (before the cops came and made them
leave), Jesse would always do better then Dickie Dietz, a white
high school football player from Greenville. Even though that was
the truth, the newspaper would always say Dickie Dietz beat him.
One night at a football game, Jesse played really well and scored
three touchdowns. At the another game that same night, Dietz
kicked the extra point to make a win. In the newspaper the next
day, the newspaper headlined what Dietz did. The newspaper showed
what Jesse did at the bottom of the page. In 1959, another unfair
event happened. Big baseball scouts arrived at Greenville and
were having a tryout camp. Jesse was the pitcher. He struck out
almost the entire team. The scouts wanted Dietz to come up. It
was Jesse against Dickie. Jesse struck out the batter three times
and Dietz only hit the ball once. Everyone was amazed. A scout
for the San Fransico Giants offered Jesse a contract for $6,000
to play B level in minor league. The Giants offered Dickie a
$95,000 for A level. Jesse did not take it. It was not a fair
game or offer.
In 1959, Jesse got a football scholarship
to the University of Illinois. He thought he would be calling the
shots like in high school, but that did not happen. Blacks were
only allowed to play running backs, linemen and ends positions.
Jesse expected more playing opportunities because of how well
known he was in high school. He was also treated poorly as a
newcomer, which was odd because of his good academic record.
Another thing that set him off was there was a dance in the fall
and the black fraternities were not invited. Jesse left Illinois
after his freshmen year. In 1960, he enrolled at North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State University. He was the
quarterback and was again calling the shots. He was an honor
student, and second vice-grand basileus of Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity. Jesse was quite a well known man on campus.
Like in high school, all the girls loved
Jesse. Jacqueline Lavinia Davis was the girl Jesse wanted. At
first she didn't care too much for him. She thought he was too
full of himself and would not take anyone else's opinions. She
changed her mind and later on they started seeing each other.
Jacqueline was the oldest of five children. She was born in
Florida in 1944. She never met her father. She was very close to
her mother who worked very hard for little money in order to
support her family. She wanted to be a nun, but decided to go to
A & T to study psychology and sociology.
Jacqueline had never had a boyfriend before Jesse.
They got married in 1962 at a quiet wedding in Greenville. On
July 16, 1963, they had a baby girl, Sanita. Jacqueline had to
drop out of college to support the family. Along with Sanita, the
Jacksons had four other children. There were three boys, Jesse
Louis (1965), Jonathon Luther (1966), and Yusef Dubois (1970),
and finally a baby girl, Jacqueline Lavinia (1975).
In 1963, Jesse became the leader of
student activisim at A & T. He lead marchers into restaurants
and public building that did not let blacks in. On June 6, 1963
Jesse and many others went to jail for demonstrating to end
segregation. While he was growing up, Maltilda, Jesse's grandma
who he called Aunt Tibby, told Jesse he was going to be a
somebody. Jesse did just that. At the age of 5, Jesse said he
wanted to be a preacher. After graduating from A & T, Jesse
turned down a scholarship from Duke University Law School to go
to Chicago Theological Seminary because he wanted to study
ministry. In 1964, he moved to Chicago with his family to study
ministry. Six months before his graduation, he dropped out of
school and went to Selma, Alabama, where Martin Luther King, Jr.
was leading the fight for Blacks to vote.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a very important man and
still is to this day. King founded the South Christian Leadership
Conference. He and his organization made a non-violent revolution
against segregation. He did this in the American South. Along
with that he also led the Montgomery Boycott of 1955. Even though
King was such a great leader and the reason Jesse came to
Alabama, Jesse and King did not get a long. Jesse would always
speak up and really wanted to get his way. They had their ups and
their downs. One time, King got very angry and told Jesse to
leave. Jesse begged for him to let him stay.
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot
and killed. Right before that, King had invited Jesse to dinner,
which could have given them a fresh start. After King's death,
Jesse went on and continued to make a difference.
By: Angie M.
Last updated: 12/3/01
