South Carolinians remember Rev. Jesse Jackson's early career

Long before Reverend Jesse Jackson became one of the most recognizable voices of the civil rights era, people in Greenville, South Carolina, remembered him as a young man already convinced he could change the world. Jackson, the civil rights leader, presidential candidate, and longtime advocate for racial and economic justice, died at age 84, prompting reflection around the world and in the South Carolina community where his story first took shape. In Greenville, friends, church leaders, and longtime acquaintances described Jackson as a man whose ambition and moral direction were visible early, rooted in faith, community expectations, and a belief in possibility that preceded national recognition. “The Jesse I knew as a 2- and 3-year-old was the one that I knew when he was running for president,” said Davida Mathis, a childhood friend. “He was always an advocate, always outspoken, a leader, a star.” Jackson grew up in Greenville’s historically Black Sterling community at a time when opportunity and limitation existed side by side. Churches, especially Springfield Baptist, were central to the civic and moral life that shaped young African Americans coming of age during segregation. “The Black church has always been the foundation of our community,” said Rev. Vinson Royal of Springfield Baptist Church. “So, social justice and equal rights come from a place where God says all men are equal.” Royal said generations at Springfield understood they were preparing children for a future different from their own. “Years and years of individuals fresh out of slavery understood what it meant to be treated as property,” he said. “And now you see an age of young individuals coming up — you don’t want that fate for them. So, they’re showing Jesse, ‘Here’s what we have to do for the future of our society.’ And he learns it here.” That foundation carried Jackson into the orbit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the mid-1960s. King recognized Jackson’s organizing ability and sent him to Chicago to expand the movement beyond the South — work that led to Operation PUSH and later Rainbow PUSH. “Dr. King sent Jesse to Chicago to start the Northern civil rights movement,” Mathis said. “He built relationships with corporations that exist right now because he had the idea and the will to make it happen.” Jackson’s influence widened through voter-registration drives, economic-justice campaigns, and two historic presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 — campaigns that reshaped political engagement among Black Americans. “Even though we knew he probably was not going to win in 1984, so many people believed so deeply that they registered and got engaged,” Mathis said. “1988 was even more of an event.” For many who watched from Greenville, the campaigns were as much symbolic as political. They served as evidence that someone from their community could stand on a national stage. “He brought a lot of dignity and pride to people of color,” said Rev. Emanuel Fleming Jr., a family friend. “His platform was inclusive in a way the country wasn’t used to.” “Even though we knew he probably was not going to win in 1984, so many people believed so deeply that they registered and got engaged,” Mathis said. “1988 was even more of an event.” For many who watched from Greenville, the campaigns were as much symbolic as political. They served as evidence that someone from their community could stand on a national stage. “He brought a lot of dignity and pride to people of color,” said Rev. Emanuel Fleming Jr., a family friend. “His platform was inclusive in a way the country wasn’t used to.” His father, Rev. Emanuel Fleming Sr., who knew Jackson for decades, said the message remains unfinished. “The change we’re looking for is in us,” he said. “Ain’t no sense waiting for somebody else to do what we can do for ourselves.” From Greenville’s churches and classrooms to Chicago organizing campaigns and presidential stages, those who knew Jesse Jackson earliest say his trajectory was not an accident but rather the extension of lessons absorbed young. For many who live here, his life remains both history and memory: the story of a man whose national voice began in local conviction. #news #jessejackson #greenville _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook:   / news13   WLOS ABC 13 News on X: https://x.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram:   / wlos_13