Few would deny that blacks have become very dominant in athletics: football, basketball, track, now dominant in tennis and dominant in golf. – Jesse Jackson
I came to the conclusion that in order to end racial barriers, I needed to run for the office of the president and put forth an agenda of social justice and world peace. In addition, I concluded that someone needed to run and challenge the liberal orthodoxy. – Jesse Jackson
No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams. – Jesse Jackson
You can be out of slavery and have the right to vote, but unless you have access to capital, industry and technology, you can’t fulfill your dreams. – Jesse Jackson
Black men of integrity cannot make a deal with a politician and leave out the poor of the nation, all God’s children. – Jesse Jackson
Statehood for the District of Columbia is the most important civil rights and social justice issue in America today. – Jesse Jackson
There have been more people disenfranchised in Washington than there have been in Kuwait. – Jesse Jackson
If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds. – Jesse Jackson
Today’s students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude. – Jesse Jackson
I think reconciliation is Obama’s goal – but the fight with the Republicans is like a fight with pit bulls, they never let go. Even worse, now the Republicans feel they can keep pushing and he will keep giving. They have not seen a stiff resistance on his part. – Jesse Jackson
If there are occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me. Charge it to my head and not to my heart. – Jesse Jackson
You may choose your mate, but you cannot deny someone else the right to choose their mate. – Jesse Jackson
Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day. – Jesse Jackson
A check or credit card, a Gucci bag strap, anything of value will do. Give as you live. – Jesse Jackson
I was extended secret service protection during my presidential run in 1984, when I received the most death threats ever made toward a candidate. – Jesse Jackson
The American people on the ground need a clearer, stronger, Lyndon B. Johnson-type voice from their president. Obama has that voice. It has to be used. – Jesse Jackson
Most blacks will argue that they excel because of hard work, because of intellect, determination, sweat, blood, tears and risk. – Jesse Jackson
Those who write the editorials and those who write the columns, they simply are unaccountable. They’re free to impose their cultural politics in the name of freedom of the press. – Jesse Jackson
Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together. – Jesse Jackson
Look at the coded language the Right is using against President Barack Obama. Openly calling him a liar in Congress, saying he is ‘not a Christian, he was not born here, he is not one of us.’ That makes addressing such issues trickier for the first African-American in the White House. – Jesse Jackson
