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Latoya Taylor, a South Carolina State University senior, believes she's a person who can do something about the injustice and inequality which the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson says still continues for African-Americans.
Taylor first saw Jackson during her freshman year at SCSU and was even more compelled to hear him speak this year as part of a voter education tour that is taking Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition across the state.
"I know Rev. Jackson is a such a prestigious leader. He's a very deep and real man, and that's what we need. He brought so much inspiration. I feel that he's done so much as a black man," Taylor said. "I want to take his path because I believe that I'm a person that can change things. I enjoyed everything he said -- from why we need to stop calling ourselves 'bitches and hos' to why all of us need to vote."
The 22-year-old sociology major was among the students, faculty and local government leaders who packed the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium Tuesday afternoon to hear Jackson speak as part of his Voter Education Tour for Jobs, Peace and Justice which began on Sept. 15.
SCSU junior Desmond Anderson was among those who gathered to hear Jackson's message, which included African-Americans' "mission" to exercise their voting rights and put an end to a cycle of self-denigration which comes with the use of derogatory labels.
"He's a leader for the African-American. I only see him on TV, but to see him in person is a great honor. I will cherish it for the rest of my life," said Anderson, a 21-year-old electrical engineering technology major.
He said the need to reduce college tuition rates alone is enough reason to want to cast a vote in the upcoming 2008 presidential race, particularly among African-Americans.
"It is very important, ... as far as the young people, who we want for president. If we don't vote, ... other people will choose our president for us," said Anderson, who also noted that the continued use of what he considers demeaning names in the African-American culture is not helpful for anyone.
"It's the generation ... and what we see on TV and do on the street. Like these rappers -- what they say, we say. What we got to do is help each other. As African-Americans, we gotta help each other out, rich or poor," Anderson said. "I'm from a poor neighborhood. Everybody knows each other, so we help each other out."
Jackson said "the struggle continues."
"Since God starting making days -- and he hasn't missed one, there's continuity in our struggle," Jackson said, starting as early as 1619 with the slaves' struggle for freedom in America. It was a challenge just to learn, he said.
"Learning was an active defiance because learning was illegal. Strong minds bring strong change," said Jackson, who shared the tireless struggles of late African-American pioneers such as abolitionist Frederick Douglass and slain civil rights pioneer Medgar Evers. He told of how he was jailed in 1960 after trying to enter a public library with a group of other students, including some from South Carolina State.
"Against the madness of that, we marched. You inherited the tradition of these martyrs. The goal of our struggle is not freedom. The goal of our struggle is equality. Freedom is the prerequisite to fight for equality," Jackson said.
He cited the racially-charged "Jena 6" issue, which began in Jena, La. and has captivated the nation. Mychal Bell, 16, a former Jena High School football star, and five other black students had been facing up to 100 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy and other charges for the December beating of a white student. The incident capped months of racial friction at Jena High School that began after several white youths hung nooses from a tree in the school courtyard.
Bell's conviction on an aggravated second-degree battery charge has been overturned, and five others have not yet been tried.
Jackson said the criminal justice system in South Carolina is just as unequal, with more than 110,000 blacks arrested each year in the last six years. He said a "jail-industrial complex" funded by guns and drugs has used the inmate population for profit. The export of jobs which have gone from "producing to consuming," the import of guns and drugs and the increase in taxes coupled with a decrease in workers has amounted to local social injustice that doesn't require a ride to Jena, he said.
"Don't be farsighted. Don't see a ship in Jena and don't see a log at home," Jackson said. He also cited a lack of health insurance among millions of Americans which has led to high infant mortality and low life expectancy rates and the statistic that 120,000 Americans have lost their lives to gun battles in the last 30 years.
"It's time to change the course. You have the power ... to make America honor its promise. No one has earned the right to do less than their best," Jackson said.
T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.