Before we get to this week’s featured article let’s take a moment to remember the great Jesse Jackson, who will be honored at a memorial service today. 

In case you missed it or have forgotten, Jesse Jackson was much more than a civil rights leader. Though his career began under the mentorship of MLK himself, Jackson staked out a unique role in American political culture. His Rainbow Coalition was stridently multicultural and diverse. His mantra, “Keep Hope Alive,” was an obviously and powerfully optimistic message during a time when that was a radical choice. He was a Christian preacher and his message was suffused with tough love. 

Jesse Jackson was also the most gifted orator of his generation—while working as a journalist in Western Montana half a lifetime ago, I witnessed him in action at a 1988 rally on the Flathead Indian Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and it was one of the most inspiring political events I have experienced. He was a man for the ages, and he will be missed.

Writing in this space two years ago in celebration of Black History Month, our friend Sharan Street chose to look forward as well as back. As the updated article below reports, Sharan was partly inspired by the work of Alicia Garza, who was one of the three women who coined the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in 2013 and went on to launch the Black Futures Lab. 

Sharan’s article includes links to an impressive list of California-based nonprofits and activist groups working to build better lives for Black folks. I was pleased to be reminded about one of these, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a network that invites white allies to join the fight against white supremacy and to work toward racial justice. 

We also honor the folks whose work, a century ago, led to the creation of Black History Month: the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. From that esteemed organization’s website, we bring a sobering reminder: 

“We have never had more need to examine the role of Black History Month than we do when forces weary of democracy seek to use legislative means and book bans to excise Black history from America’s schools and public culture.” 

To read the original article, click HERE.