Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., is holding a news conference today, Saturday, June 11, at 12:30 P.M., to announce his personal endorsement of Secretary Hillary Clinton for president, “the most qualified and best hope” to rebuild urban America and stanch the scourge of joblessness and gun violence that has turned parts of Chicago and other cities across the country into killing fields.
Rev. Jackson will make his endorsement at 11618 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, the site of a memorial to the hundreds of children slain in recent years in the city. Rev. Jackson will be joined at the news conference by a diverse group of clergy, elected officials, community activists, labor leaders and mothers of some of the murdered children. Their names and young ages printed on miniature “headstones” make-up the heartbreaking memorial.
Rev. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is endorsing Secretary Clinton as a private citizen. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition does not endorse political candidates.
Last March, Rev. Jackson took Secretary Clinton to the memorial where she met with several grieving mothers. “It is profoundly wrong,” she said, “to see how many children’s lives are ended by senseless gun violence.”
At the time, there were 501 names on the memorial.
“We just added 100 more names,” said Diane Latiker, the neighborhood activist who built and maintains the memorial, and will join Rev. Jackson at the endorsement news conference on Saturday. “I don’t know an exact figure. It keeps growing.”
In May, 66 people were killed in Chicago. During the hard-fought Democratic presidential primary campaign, Rev. Jackson did not endorse either Secretary Clinton or Senator Bernie Sanders – “two outstanding candidates,” who were “both going in the right progressive direction.”
Among the reasons Rev. Jackson unreservedly endorses Secretary Clinton are:
- Hillary Clinton supports getting big money and dark money out of politics and overturning Citizens United.
- Hillary Clinton supports policies of inclusion and greater democracy in our politics.
- Hillary Clinton supports reigning in Wall Street, big business and big insurance companies disproportionate influence on our politics and government.
- Hillary Clinton is against individuals and businesses sheltering their money in foreign tax shelters and believes the rich and big business should pay their fair share of taxes.
- Hillary Clinton supports universal health care and health care as a right.
- Hillary Clinton supports making college education affordable for all Americans who have the ability and the desire to go to college.
- Hillary Clinton is committed to reinvesting in urban and rural America.
- Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a multi-racial, multi-issue, progressive, international organization that was formed in December 1996 by the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. through merging of two organizations he founded Operation PUSH People United to Serve Humanity (estab. 1971) and the Rainbow Coalition (estab. 1984). With headquarters in Chicago and offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Oakland, the organization works to make the American Dream a reality for all citizens while advocating for peace and justice around the world. RPC is dedicated to improving the lives of all people by serving as a voice for the voiceless. Its mission is to protect, defend and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields while promoting peace and justice around the world.
