Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Rev. Jesse Jackson died on Feb. 17, according to his family, peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
Despite his decades of leading the call for civil rights, Jackson remains relatively unknown to the majority of college students today.
“Until his death, I don’t think he was really celebrated with this generation,” Black Student Success Coordinator Angela Fowlkes said.
When asking students after his death if anyone knew of the protege who stood beside Martin Luther King Jr. and his beliefs long after his death, many were unfazed.
“I think that it has a lot to do with the lack of institutionalizing a diverse curriculum for students as they’re growing up,” Ethnic Studies professor Juli Grigsby said.
The younger generation, not being exposed to black history, has created a lack of knowledge, where people like Jackson are left unknown.
“I would say that a lot of black history has been a part of public memory, but not public history,” Grigsby said.
Jackson was a part of multiple civil rights movements that continue to affect society presently and paved the way for those in America who did not have a voice.
“Jackson was a part of the anti-apartheid movement for South Africa, he made speeches for the rights of a Palestinian state and for gay rights,” Grigsby said.
Shamika Simpson, a Collection Development and Outreach Librarian for LBCC, shared a similar sentiment as to why students today are not aware of Jackson and his accomplishments.
“The only thing I can think of would be the erasure of black history in terms of early education,” Simpson said.
Under the Trump administration, numerous actions have been taken to try to target museums and education for “Anti-American” ideologies.
“Do you want to actually learn the truth? Do you want to learn cultural competence or are you going to be complacent with what you may or may not have been taught in school,” Simpson said.
Although Jackson stood alongside the historical figures who led the civil rights movement, he remains largely unknown to younger generations.
