There was a historic music festival in the summer of 1969. But it's not the one that took place in Bethel, NY. The Harlem Cultural Festival ran from June 29 to August 24 that summer, presenting a concert every Sunday afternoon in Mount Morris Park (known today as Marcus Garvey Park). Three hundred thousand people turned out for the six free concerts, hearing acts like Nina Simone , Sly & the Family Stone (the only act to play both Woodstock and the "black Woodstock"), Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, The 5th Dimension, Moms Mabley and. Speakers included Jesse Jackson and "blue-eyed soul brother" Mayor John Lindsay. Security was courtesy of the Black Panthers, since the NYC police refused to provide it. Filmmaker Hal Tulchin recorded over 50 hours of concert footage, which has remained unreleased. Historic Films seems to hold the footage; it was supposed to be made into a movie to premiere at Sundance 2007, but its release seems to be continually delayed for reasons unclear. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Aug 20, 2009 - 19 comments

'We done heard your voice, we saw your marches, we don't want to hear that any more.' Music artist Nas directs pointed criticism toward civil rights stalwart Jesse Jackson and his generation. But he's not alone. Kevin Powell is running for congress and shares the sentiment. [more inside]
posted by cashman on Jul 23, 2008 - 87 comments

"I don't think that there's any question about the fact that the weapons that they have did not come from Haiti," says Kurzban. "They're organized as a military commando strike force that's going from city to city."

Parts of the rebellion's leadership, such as head of military operations Louis Chamberlain, were leaders in the attempted 1994 Hatian coup that resulted in the use of 20,000 U.S. troops. A coup which, according to the U.N. Human Right Commission, was supported and aided by the CIA. In other words, this wouldn't be the first time that the U.S. has played on both sides of a Haitian military uprising.

Meanwhile, Bush refuses to protect President Aristide's life - and perhaps the lives of thousands of Hatians - citing the opposition's refusal of a U.S. peace plan. Silmultaneously, he issued a harsh pronouncement warning refugee Hatians off from American shores.
"It is clear that the right wing in this country does not support that democracy," said Jesse Jackson, today. "(Bush) is, in fact, supporting overthrow of this government in this hemisphere."
posted by kaibutsu on Feb 26, 2004 - 22 comments

Barbers getting snippy with Jesse In a beautiful turnabout, a group of barbers is demanding an apology from Jesse Jackson for his previous call for action against the movie "Barbershop."
posted by baltimore on Oct 25, 2002 - 23 comments

Is Jesse ever happy? You'd think he'd be happy with the #1 movie in the country for 2 weeks straight being a movie that is cast totally with black people. But nope, he's not. He's upset because there was a goof on Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. Wasn't this just a movie?
posted by the_0ne on Sep 24, 2002 - 83 comments

Rev. Jackson rallies West Coast dock workers. I'm proud of Jesse for this action. The workers are only averaging $80K per annum and foreman are averaging only $167K per. I'm surprised he didn't try to do the same for the MLBPA.
posted by flatlander on Sep 3, 2002 - 19 comments

A Tale of Two Jesse Jacksons In the battle to maintain his congressional seat, Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D., Ill.) is up against... Jesse L. Jackson?

Yep, a 68-year-old truck driver named Jesse Jackson is running in the primaries against the son of the best-known Jesse, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson. Jackson Jr. has occused the other Jackson of being a fraud, put up to running by Jr.'s rivals. Jackson Jr. was in court Tuesday, but the judge thwarted his efforts to get the other Jackson thrown off the ballot, denying Jr. the opportunity to questions alleged conspirators. The other Jackson, for his part, has given conflicting testimony in two court appearances. (Confused yet?) So far, no word as to what Rev. Jackson has to say about all this.
posted by me3dia on Jan 16, 2002 - 8 comments

You thought Notre Dame had a tough season. Now they have to play against their toughest opponent, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson urges the university to hire a black coach.
posted by Oxydude on Dec 20, 2001 - 29 comments

Jesse Jackson invited to visit the Taliban. They've asked him to lead a peace delegation to come talk to them; he's thinking it over. My question is this: How far does he have to go before he's providing "aid and comfort" to our enemies (i.e. before he's committing treason)? I hope he'll do the right thing (stay home and shut up) but I doubt it.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Sep 26, 2001 - 24 comments

Why isn't Jesse Jackson being prosecuted for embezzlement? Jackson's Citizenship Education Fund gave $35,000 to the mother of Jackson's illegitimate daughter for "relocation expenses". Is this routinely done for all ex-employees of the foundation?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Apr 28, 2001 - 16 comments

Jesse's Mistress Writing A Tell-All. The mother of Jesse Jackson's love child is penning a tell-all book alleging she received a secret payoff of $450,000 from the civil-rights leader, that to prove Jackson was the father of her 22-month-old daughter, she froze a condom containing his sperm, that before giving birth to their child, Karin was pregnant by Jesse a previous time, but had an abortion at his request, and that after learning of the affair, Jackson's wife, Jackie, was so angry that she pointed a gun at him in their Chicago home and had to be restrained by a guest.
posted by frednorman on Mar 29, 2001 - 10 comments

Jesse Jackson with two unfortunate souls I wonder what ol' Jesse Jackson is thinking in this picture. I'm sure it's something like, "Those two poor, poor women. They don't even know what they gotten themselves into."
posted by grambo on Jan 18, 2001 - 21 comments

Stunning news tonight? Sean Hannity at Fox News, Howard Finneman at Newsweek, and a few less reliable sources have caught wind of a New York Post / National Enquirer story to run tonight and tomorrow that they promise is an absolute stunner... media reactions have ranged from "Jesse Jackson's career is over" to "Ashcroft confirmed!" But no one will say what the story is... yet.

Does anyone else have more reliable sources?
posted by mikewas on Jan 17, 2001 - 27 comments

Business 2.0 Evil? Tim Cavanaugh claims that Business 2.0 mutilated his article in order to attack Jesse Jackson.

Scroll to the October 6th letter on MediaNews to read B2.0's response, and Tim's response to their response.

I suspect I won't be buying their publication again.
posted by peterme on Oct 11, 2000 - 14 comments

Jesse Jackson Slams US Drug War Man, if Al would have picked Jesse for veep, I might not be voting for Nader after all.
posted by snakey on Aug 7, 2000 - 18 comments