Les Lester's Chronicle, Message Board

Les Lester's Chronicle, Message Board
[ Les Lester's Chronicle, Message Board ]

My Memories of Jesse Jackson... .

Posted by Les on 2/17/2026, 12:59 pm

I had just moved from Mississippi to Chicago, as an 18 year old, and saw TV trucks a half block ahead on the street where I was walking. The media guys were just going into a street-level office, and one staffer must have seen the exultation in my eyes, as he quickly asked if I wanted to go in as they prepared to conduct an interview with the civil rights icon. I walked right in and there was the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who gave me a warm handshake as I took a cushy seat, that in my eyes, seemed to be divinely placed there for me to observe a close-up interview with admittedly my favorite civil rights activist.

I would visit the Saturday morning forums at Operation PUSH as often as I could and eventually found myself working as communications director there and quickly realized Rev. Jackson, and Operation PUSH, was about “shaping the narrative” in the Black American liberation struggle.

As I write this summary, I realize that my graduate school media processes and effects studies at the University of Minnesota was in some ways an off shoot of the PUSH propensity to critique the framing of the American and global narrative.

I gave Rev. Jackson my prediction that Jesse Jackson Jr. would win his first congressional election campaign, back in the mid-1990s, which now that I reflect, was with some very top-flight opponents. We stood there in a well-known preacher’s church, in Minneapolis, as they were conducting a fundraiser for Rev. Jackson. I marveled at how far I had come from the 19-year-old, fresh out of Mississippi, teen to the mature man I had become, chatting with one of my icons. One thing Rev. Jackson said to religious believers, back in those days was, “If you really believe…” about one’s professed faith — “you’ll get the job done.”

Re: My Memories of Jesse Jackson... .

Posted by gm on 2/18/2026, 1:50 pm, in reply to "My Memories of Jesse Jackson... ."

This one goes into the your familys memory bank forever..
A reminder of the period when change was about to come..
A reminder of who did what, who made sacrifices, who stayed true, and whether or not we maintain & control the narrative for future generations..
Truth be told, we Black folks don't really show true appreciation for those who suffered most on our behalf..
Hopefully, Rev. Jesse Jackson's legacy is taught and respected and celebrated.
LET'S KEEP HOPE ALIVE.🙏🙏

for those of us who love Jesse: dress style is revolutionary... reading is good

Posted by reading gm on 2/19/2026, 8:54 pm, in reply to "Re: My Memories of Jesse Jackson... ."

Such a wonderful essay deconstructing how Jesse's clothing style spoke volumes and quite revolutionary in a certain sense:

Google: "Jesse Jackson Was a Style Icon" by Robin Givhan...or 'Why Jesse Jackson Wore That Turtleneck', same author.

Re: Jesse: dress style is revolutionary...

Posted by Les on 2/19/2026, 10:08 pm, in reply to " for those of us who love Jesse: dress style is revolutionary... reading is good"

GM, you're on it, here. I have a big post I did several years ago on Facebook that dealt with the idea of dress style and symbology -- I tossed all of my European suits and now only wear what I called in my book Diaspora Suits. Hmmm, I'll need to add that to the script, I'm just about finished with.

Facebook should have a way of allowing posters to access old important posts. I just looked at that Sept. 2019 well-received post, and of course Rev. Jackson figured prominently --

I was frankly disappointed when he defaulted to European suits following his presidential runs.

Previous Message

Jesse: dress style is revolutionary..... Les, I swear

Posted by gm on 2/19/2026, 10:39 pm, in reply to "Re: Jesse: dress style is revolutionary... "

Hey man, while I was reading the article and googling other pics of Jesse during his travels, you came to mind!
I thought immediately of some of the pics you've posted here and the outfits you wear, which matches closely how Jesse dresses, sometimes even the colors match yours; It's one of the reasons I wanted to post the article here.

Re: Jesse: dress style is revolutionary..... Les, I swear

Posted by Les on 2/19/2026, 10:58 pm, in reply to "Jesse: dress style is revolutionary..... Les, I swear "

Thanks, for these outstanding posts, GM -- We're getting hits from all over the world, on here.
We actually get as many hits from China as the U.S. some days. Also, Vietnam and Brazil. I couldn't get that New York Times article by Robin Givhan, because they want readers to get a subscription, and I just can't see paying for newspapers, these days.

Here is another article she did on Jesse and the message his attire represented.

https://dnyuz.com/2026/02/18/jesse-jacksons-wardrobe-was-also-the-message/

Previous Message

Re: Jesse: dress style is revolutionary..... Les, I swear

Posted by gm on 2/20/2026, 12:49 am, in reply to "Re: Jesse: dress style is revolutionary..... Les, I swear "

It's the same article but from a different outlet..
The link you've posted does not show the images of Jesse in a Dashiki or the outfit he wore when meeting Castro or Arafat etc.
The NYTimes article has about 5 images of Jesse showing his different attire, those similar to yours. But yes, it's the same article by Robin Givhan.

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