Jesse Jackson
And the margin of our hope
They didn’t want Rev. Jesse Jackson to speak. They were afraid. Openly afraid. In fact, then-Massachusetts Governor and soon-to-be Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis told the New York Times, “After Jesse gets through tonight, none of us will be able to meet the standard.”
This frightening oration was Jackson’s 1988 Democratic National Convention speech in Atlanta. And from the first moments it is clear why it was—and continues to be—so terrifying to the political class. In his speech, Jesse rails against medical debt and student loan debt. He indicts “the richest one-percent of our society”. He champions affordable healthcare, gay rights and DC statehood. He even mentions the paper workers in Jay, Maine, who were on strike at the time.
Jesse Jackson said it all with courage and grace. He inspired with style and fire. And he was right. He was as right in his words as Dukakis was in his fearful forecast—of which the Times also commented, “Mr. Jackson did nothing to dim that prediction.”
Below is the speech in its entirety. If you have a moment, please watch it and think not of how long we’ve struggled to achieve Jesse’s shared vision, but instead, of how many now share it and know that sometimes it really can come down to, as the man said, “our margin of hope”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987%E2%80%931988_International_Paper_strike
Thanks Sam, that was the first convention I ever watched. I even made t-shirts.