Jesse Jackson's Most Consequential Power Was Not His Oratory -- but His Vision

Jim Hightower
Tue, 24 Feb 2026 23:00:00 -0800
Opinion

In 1988, I was one of only two white elected Democratic officials in all of America to endorse Jesse Jackson to be our party's nominee for president. The other was Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt.

As a Texas politico, my endorsement of the fiery Black leader was both derided as political suicide and hailed as gutsy. But it was neither — it was just the right thing to do. As I had learned from an old-time Texas Democrat, "Every now and then, a politician ought to do something just because it's right."

In the 1970s and 80s, I got to know and work with Jackson. A renowned orator, he was an even more effective thinker and uniter. For example, he was able to link white, conservative dirt farmers in common cause with impoverished farmworkers and inner-city families battling chain-store profiteers.
Updated: Wed Feb 25, 2026

In 1988, I was one of only two white elected Democratic officials in all of America to endorse Jesse Jackson to be our party's nominee for president. The other was Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt.

As a Texas politico, my endorsement of the fiery Black leader was both derided as political suicide and hailed as gutsy. But it was neither — it was just the right thing to do. As I had learned from an old-time Texas Democrat, "Every now and then, a politician ought to do something just because it's right."

In the 1970s and 80s, I got to know and work with Jackson. A renowned orator, he was an even more effective thinker and uniter. For example, he was able to link white, conservative dirt farmers in common cause with impoverished farmworkers and inner-city families battling chain-store profiteers.

So, when he ran for president, I had to ask myself: If this guy, one, is standing for the progressive populist values I believe in, second, is standing with the grassroots families I'm fighting for and third, has the populist grit to stand up to the moneyed elites — why am I not standing with him?

Millions of us responded to his deliberate campaign trying to forge a multi-racial populist movement and it's up to us to carry that historic mission forward. Jackson's "Rainbow" vision was not one of fluffy hope, but one of profound "intentionality." That means doing the grunt-level political work of strategizing, organizing and mobilizing to make good things happen. Especially in these dark Trumpian times, emphasizing Jesse's deliberate determination is the best way to honor this true champion of democracy.

GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM PRODUCES A 'MISSISSIPPI MIRACLE'

Here's something we don't get to say very often: "Way to go, Mississippi!"

This state has long been ranked dead last in important measurements like healthcare, workers' wages and rural opportunities. In recent years, though, Mississippi has steadily been advancing to the top in one vital category: Best places for a poor child to get a good education. What a miracle!

No. It's the product of ordinary citizens who got fed up with plutocratic state rule that lavishes taxpayer funds on corporate elites, while shortchanging the basic needs of workaday people. In the past decade, savvy grassroots coalitions like Mississippi United have arisen and spread, gaining local political punch in county after county that could not be ignored by legislators.

Early on, they achieved major state investments in pre-K education, producing remarkable advances, especially by low-income children in many of the state's poverty-stricken, rural counties.

This year, building on that success, the movement scored two huge educational victories. First, they produced a unanimous senate vote to defeat a school privatization scheme pushed by the right-wing governor, the corporate establishment, out-of-state school profiteers ... and President Donald Trump! Then, to emphasize and expand on the state's commitment to quality public education, the legislature passed a $5,000 teacher pay raise.

As a legislative leader from Starkville said after the senate vote: "Our public schools are the cornerstone of every community in this state, and this unanimous rejection sends a clear message: Mississippi will not abandon the students and families who depend on quality public education — no matter how much out-of-state money tries to buy our legislators."

To learn more about the uplifting "Mississippi Miracle," go to ACLU-MS.org.