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Jesse L. Jackson Jr. biography

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Jesse L. Jackson Jr. is the a leading Democratic Representative from the state of Illinois. His father is the famous Rev. Jesse Jackson.

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Jesse L. Jackson Jr. is the a leading Democratic Representative from the state of Illinois. He grew up in the civil rights movement, in the shadow of his father, the famous Rev. Jesse Jackson. He studied law and theology before serving as a National Rainbow Coalition field director. He has served in the U.S. Congress since 1995 and has campaigned for the addition of a third airport in Chicago.

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Politician, lawyer, and author. Born on March 11, 1965, in Greenville, South Carolina. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. is a leading Democrat in the House of Representatives. An activist for social change, he was born into the civil rights movement. He gave one of his first speeches when he was only five years old.

As the son of a civil rights leader, Jackson grew up in the shadow of his famous father, Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the 1960s, and then established his own civil rights organization, Operation PUSH, in 1971. Jesse, Jr. 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, Jesse developed a close relationship to his mother, Jacqueline.

The Jackson children were raised on Chicago's South Side, and Jesse, Jr. 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, as a youth in order to develop greater personal discipline. It was a transformation that took some time. Initially, "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. Jackson eventually transferred to the prestigious boys' school St. Albans, but he did better as a player 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 Jesse, Jr.'s graduation. After high school, Jackson enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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 was arrested in 1985 during a demonstration outside the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.

After graduating with a degree in business management in 1987, Jackson turned to more spiritual matters. He earned a master's degree in theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1990. From there, Jackson studied law at the University of Illinois College of Law, completing his degree in 1993. Following in his father's footsteps, Jackson became an advocate for social change.

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