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Jesse Jackson Jr. biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Jesse Jackson Jr.
  • OCCUPATION: U.S. Representative, Journalist
  • BIRTH DATE: March 11, 1965 (Age: 48)
  • EDUCATION: St. Albans School, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Chicago Theological Seminary, University of Illinois College of Law, LeMans Military Academy
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Greenville, South Carolina
  • Full Name: Jesse Louis Jackson Jr.
  • AKA: Jesse L. Jackson Jr.
  • AKA: Jesse Jackson Jr.
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces

Best Known For

Jesse Jackson Jr. is the son of the famous Reverend Jesse Jackson. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2012.

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Synopsis

Born in Greenville, South Carolina on March 11, 1965, Jesse Jackson Jr. served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2012, representing the state of Illinois. He grew up in the Civil Rights Movement, in the shadow of his father,

the famous Reverend Jesse Jackson. He studied law and theology before serving as a National Rainbow Coalition field director. Jackson's work as a House representative included campaigning for the addition of a third airport in Chicago. He resigned in late November 2012, citing ongoing health issues.

Younger Years

Jesse Louis Jackson Jr., the son of the famous Reverend Jesse Jackson, was born on March 11, 1965, in Greenville, South Carolina. As the son of a civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson Jr. became politically active at a young age; he gave one of his first speeches when he was only 5 years old.

Active in the Civil Rights Movement, Jackson worked with Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960s, and then established his own civil rights organization, Operation PUSH, in 1971. He met many famous people through his father, such as baseball great Jackie Robinson; boxing legend Muhammad Ali; and singer Michael Jackson. With his activist father often away, however, Jackson developed a close relationship to his mother, Jacqueline.

The Jackson children were raised on Chicago's South Side, and young Jesse attended public school there for a number of years. An intelligent but hyperactive child, he was transferred to the LeMans Military Academy in South Bend, Indiana, so that he could develop greater personal discipline. It was a transformation that took some time. "I received numerous demerits and became a regular visitor to the principal's office—often to be paddled for conduct unbecoming a cadet," he later wrote of his early experience at the school.

Jackson eventually transferred to the prestigious St. Albans School for boys in Washington, D.C., but found more success on the school's football team than as a student. Jackson graduated from St. Albans in 1984 and his father, who was running for president at the time, gave the commencement speech at his graduation ceremony. Following his graduation from high school, Jackson enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Early Political Activism

Jackson excelled on many levels at the university—he played quarterback on the school's football team, served as student body president, and started a student group to protest apartheid in South Africa. Along with his father and brother, Jonathan Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. was arrested in 1985 during a demonstration outside of the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.

After graduating with a degree in business management in 1987, Jackson focused on gaining a spiritual education; in 1990, he earned a master's degree in theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary. Jackson went on to study law at the University of Illinois College of Law, completing his degree in 1993.

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