Rev Jesse Jackson is coming to Reading

Civil rights campaigner Rev Jesse Jackson is coming to Reading next week to talk about faith, politics and empowerment.

He became world famous when he made a bid for the US Presidency in 1984 and 1988, hoping to become the Democratic candidate. He was the first African American with a chance. In February 2006, Jackson was voted "the most important black leader" with 15% of the vote, a week is a long time in politics.

Jackson attended the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he was studying to become a minister, but dropped out in 1966 to focus full-time on the civil rights movement. In 1965, he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama. In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. selected Jackson to be national director in 1967. He used “selective buying” (boycotts) as a means to pressure white businesses to hire blacks and purchase goods and services from black contractors. He was ordained in 1968.

In March 2007, Jackson declared his support for then-Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 democratic primaries. As controversial as he was charismatic, Jackson continues to be one of the more striking figures in American public life.

He will be speaking at the Globe Church in Portman Road, West Reading on Wednesday, March 25 at 7.30pm.