Jonathan Jackson (activist)
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Luther Jackson (born January 7, 1966) is a civil rights activist, businessman and professor. He is the national spokesman for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
and a partner in a Chicago-based beer distributorship, River North Sales and Service, LLC.
, Illinois
, to the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a noted civil rights activist and Baptist minister, and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson. His godfather was the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
from which Jackson draws his middle name. The middle child of his parents' five children, Jackson's siblings are Santita Jackson and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., his elders, and Yusef, Jacqueline Jackson and Ashley, his younger siblings.
He attended his parents' alma mater, North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, North Carolina
, to study business. He is a graduate of the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois
.
to release captured American pilot Navy Lt. Robert Goodman. He met Fidel Castro in 1984, when his father negotiated the release of twenty-two Americans being held in Cuba. He was also with his father in August 2005, when the Rev. Jackson traveled to Venezuela
to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
. This followed controversial remarks by televangelist Pat Robertson
where he implied Chávez should be assassinated. Jackson condemned Robertson's remarks as immoral.
In 2007, Jonathan Jackson took on the issues of innocence
and juvenile justice as national spokesman for the RainbowPUSH Coalition. Jackson has highlighted the personal stories and continued trials of those who accused the Chicago Police Department of torturing them to obtain confessions that landed them in prison. They include Darrell Cannon, who faced the death penalty for a 1983 drug-related murder. Cannon was released after accepting a January 2001 deal to abandon his torture claim in exchange for being released, according to the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions. Jackson has also showcased the travails of the Rev. Oscar Walden, who in 1952 became Illinois' first exoneree. Walden was freed after being sentenced to 75 years for a rape he did not commit.
Jackson has championed the cause of Johnnie Lee Savory, a Peoria native who was convicted of stabbing to death his friends, Connie Cooper, 19, and her brother, James Robinson, 14, in their Peoria home in 1977. After serving over 28 years in prison, Savory was released on parole December 19, 2006. Jackson is among several notables who have petitioned the Illinois governor — first Rod Blagojevich
, then Pat Quinn
— to order DNA
testing in the Savory case to prove that not only did Savory not kill his friends, but also to pinpoint the person widely suspected of committing the crime.
In 2008, he turned his attention to closures of Chicago Public Schools. He has led several schools to public hearings and civic education training to thwart school closures and turnarounds by private companies in favor of investing in existing schools and keeping a community's institutional memory intact — especially in highly mobile neighborhoods where large numbers of students are homeless or living on the economic margins.
In February 2010, he succeeded in helping Guggenheim Elementary School get off the closure list. Guggenheim is situated in the Englewood community on the city's South Side. Jackson, among others, made the case that forcing students to walk any further to school put them in harm's way. They also made the case that Guggenheim's test scores have steadily improved and it had a close-knit community that possessed the momentum to achieve further gains. Previously, Jackson had persuaded school officials to abandon plans to close Holmes Elementary School, in addition to others.
Jackson's view of outsourcing public education mirrors that of an emerging vocal group of educators like New York University's Diane Ravitch and activists who assert that over-reliance on test scores and privatizing of public schools through wholesale charters and outsourcing allows schools to cherry-pick their student bodies while siphoning resources from the most marginalized children. They consider programs like No Child Left Behind and charter school
s as a divestment of public education.
as an investment analyst for Michael Milken
, an American financier and philanthropist, noted for his role in developing a market for high-yield bonds known as junk bonds. Jackson later worked as an analyst at Independence Bank, was a Shatkin Arbor runner at the Chicago Board of Trade and developed real estate for East Lake Management in Chicago. He rejoined Milken at Knowledge Universe in the late 1990s and currently engages in investments in the wireless, real estate and distribution sectors.
In 1998, Jackson, with his brother Yusef, became owner of a Chicago-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. distributorship — River North Sales and Service, LLC. The deal was met with charges of skepticism and nepotism because Jackson's father had previously organized a boycott of the brewery's products in the early 1980s. The elder Jackson wanted the world's largest brewery to do more business in the African-American community.
In 2009, Jackson lead a group of minority investors in a $250 million bid to take over ION Media Networks
, the country's largest chain of independent TV stations. Partnered with Cyrus Capital Partners, a New York investment firm, Jackson argued that second-lien lenders are treated as second-class citizens.
He has taught finance and entrepreneurship at City Colleges of Chicago
.
Rainbow/PUSH
Rainbow/PUSH is a non-profit organization formed as a merger of two non-profit organizations — Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition — founded by Jesse Jackson. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism.In December 1971, Jackson resigned from...
and a partner in a Chicago-based beer distributorship, River North Sales and Service, LLC.
Early life
Jackson was born Jonathan Luther Jackson in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, to the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a noted civil rights activist and Baptist minister, and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson. His godfather was the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
from which Jackson draws his middle name. The middle child of his parents' five children, Jackson's siblings are Santita Jackson and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., his elders, and Yusef, Jacqueline Jackson and Ashley, his younger siblings.
Education
Jackson attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, where he was a student-athlete.He attended his parents' alma mater, North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, to study business. He is a graduate of the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
.
Civil and human rights activism
Born into a family steeped in human rights activism, Jackson has traveled the world as an aide de camp to his father. He traveled to Syria in 1983, when the Rev. Jackson negotiated with Syrian President Hafez al-AssadHafez al-Assad
Hafez ibn 'Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad or more commonly Hafez al-Assad was the President of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule consolidated the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups, such as Operation Wappen in 1957 conducted by the Eisenhower administration and...
to release captured American pilot Navy Lt. Robert Goodman. He met Fidel Castro in 1984, when his father negotiated the release of twenty-two Americans being held in Cuba. He was also with his father in August 2005, when the Rev. Jackson traveled to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
. This followed controversial remarks by televangelist Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
where he implied Chávez should be assassinated. Jackson condemned Robertson's remarks as immoral.
In 2007, Jonathan Jackson took on the issues of innocence
Innocence
Innocence is a term used to indicate a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime.-Symbolism:...
and juvenile justice as national spokesman for the RainbowPUSH Coalition. Jackson has highlighted the personal stories and continued trials of those who accused the Chicago Police Department of torturing them to obtain confessions that landed them in prison. They include Darrell Cannon, who faced the death penalty for a 1983 drug-related murder. Cannon was released after accepting a January 2001 deal to abandon his torture claim in exchange for being released, according to the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions. Jackson has also showcased the travails of the Rev. Oscar Walden, who in 1952 became Illinois' first exoneree. Walden was freed after being sentenced to 75 years for a rape he did not commit.
Jackson has championed the cause of Johnnie Lee Savory, a Peoria native who was convicted of stabbing to death his friends, Connie Cooper, 19, and her brother, James Robinson, 14, in their Peoria home in 1977. After serving over 28 years in prison, Savory was released on parole December 19, 2006. Jackson is among several notables who have petitioned the Illinois governor — first Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...
, then Pat Quinn
Pat Quinn (politician)
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Quinn III is the 41st and current Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Previously elected three times to statewide office, Quinn was the sitting lieutenant governor and became governor on January 29, 2009, when the previous governor, Rod Blagojevich,...
— to order DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
testing in the Savory case to prove that not only did Savory not kill his friends, but also to pinpoint the person widely suspected of committing the crime.
In 2008, he turned his attention to closures of Chicago Public Schools. He has led several schools to public hearings and civic education training to thwart school closures and turnarounds by private companies in favor of investing in existing schools and keeping a community's institutional memory intact — especially in highly mobile neighborhoods where large numbers of students are homeless or living on the economic margins.
In February 2010, he succeeded in helping Guggenheim Elementary School get off the closure list. Guggenheim is situated in the Englewood community on the city's South Side. Jackson, among others, made the case that forcing students to walk any further to school put them in harm's way. They also made the case that Guggenheim's test scores have steadily improved and it had a close-knit community that possessed the momentum to achieve further gains. Previously, Jackson had persuaded school officials to abandon plans to close Holmes Elementary School, in addition to others.
Jackson's view of outsourcing public education mirrors that of an emerging vocal group of educators like New York University's Diane Ravitch and activists who assert that over-reliance on test scores and privatizing of public schools through wholesale charters and outsourcing allows schools to cherry-pick their student bodies while siphoning resources from the most marginalized children. They consider programs like No Child Left Behind and charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
s as a divestment of public education.
Career
Jackson started his career in 1988 at Drexel Burnham LambertDrexel Burnham Lambert
Drexel Burnham Lambert was a major Wall Street investment banking firm, which first rose to prominence and then was forced into bankruptcy in February 1990 by its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by Drexel employee Michael Milken. At its height, it was the...
as an investment analyst for Michael Milken
Michael Milken
Michael Robert Milken is an American business magnate, financier, and philanthropist noted for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds during the 1970s and 1980s, for his 1990 guilty plea to felony charges for violating US securities laws, and for his funding of medical...
, an American financier and philanthropist, noted for his role in developing a market for high-yield bonds known as junk bonds. Jackson later worked as an analyst at Independence Bank, was a Shatkin Arbor runner at the Chicago Board of Trade and developed real estate for East Lake Management in Chicago. He rejoined Milken at Knowledge Universe in the late 1990s and currently engages in investments in the wireless, real estate and distribution sectors.
In 1998, Jackson, with his brother Yusef, became owner of a Chicago-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. distributorship — River North Sales and Service, LLC. The deal was met with charges of skepticism and nepotism because Jackson's father had previously organized a boycott of the brewery's products in the early 1980s. The elder Jackson wanted the world's largest brewery to do more business in the African-American community.
In 2009, Jackson lead a group of minority investors in a $250 million bid to take over ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets. It is now a privately owned company.-History:...
, the country's largest chain of independent TV stations. Partnered with Cyrus Capital Partners, a New York investment firm, Jackson argued that second-lien lenders are treated as second-class citizens.
He has taught finance and entrepreneurship at City Colleges of Chicago
City Colleges of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago is a system of seven community colleges which provide learning opportunities for Chicago residents at the schools or online, and also members of the US military through the Navy Campus to enhance their knowledge and skills. Student enrollment was 115,000 in 2007...
.
External links
- http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/ilIndex.html
- http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/issues/deathpenalty/clemency/chronology.html
- http://www.ncat.edu/events/spring04/alumni/celebrate.pdf
- http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-13211107.html