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Ron Jackson's Perspective
5th Annual
National Day of Repudiation of Jesse
Jackson
January 19, 2004
Ron Jackson's Speech
King vs. Jackson:
No Comparison |
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We gather here on this day established to honor and remember Dr.
Martin L. King, Jr., an esteemed American whose history and legacy
are well documented. Since whose death 35 years ago, there has not
been one individual in this country with his resolve to fight for
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans.
However, there has been a good share of wanna-bees. There have been
some imitators. There have been far too many frauds.
To put Dr.
King's goals in perspective, allow me to compare and contrast the
lives and works of two men. One man
fought for equal opportunity
for all. The other man takes from all to benefit the well being of
just one. One man lived by his |
convictions. The other man, once a
disciple of the first as Judas was a disciple of Jesus, has turned
on those convictions for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver. One man
died trying to empower the downtrodden. The other man lives by
keeping the downtrodden powerless.
Look out across America. You will see countless
numbers of black Americans who followed and have realized the King
dream of getting an education, acquiring property, owning
businesses, and participating in our political and governing
process. Look again and you will also see millions of others have
not because they are buying into poverty.
According to Dr. Edison O. Jackson, President of Medgar
Evers College, "The greatest poverty in the world is not physical
poverty, but poverty of the mind and spirit."
Let me ask. What man has made his riches off the
poverty-ridden minds and spirits of black Americans? What man has
sold poverty to black America and convinced them that everything
wrong in their lives is the white man's fault? What man delivers
more junk than the US Postal Service?
I submit to you. The greatest poverty broker of the
last 100 years is another "somebothay" named Jackson -- Rev. Jesse
Jackson.
Let me ask again. What enters the mind, gives it a
temporary feeling of euphoria, attacks the wallet, divides
neighborhoods and families, provides no long-term resolution, and
targets the black race specifically? You would probably answer
illegal drugs. I offer there is something even worse than illegal
drugs running rampant throughout black communities across this
country. That something is Jesse Jackson's poverty of the mind and
spirit, and those addicted to that kind of poverty do not respond to
typical rehabilitation. Therefore, if we cannot reach those buying
into poverty and show them the futility of their addiction, we must
target the dealer of poverty.
Like the Surgeon General's warning on cigarettes, we
are here today to advise: "Stopping the use of poverty of the mind
and spirit greatly reduces serious risk to your health."
Jesse Jackson has taken the dream of Dr. King, Jr.,
and turned it into a cultural, albeit very profitable, nightmare.
Dr. King fought for the opportunity to compete in this capitalistic
system; Jesse Jackson has championed the idea that opportunity is
not the focal point of the dream, but entitlements are, and the only
way to get those entitlements is to join his Operation PU$H club.
I speak from personal experience. Exactly one year
ago, Jesse Jackson came to my birth home, Pembroke, Illinois, a
small, poor, rural community just 50 miles south of his Chicago
headquarters. This community of 3000 black people, 80 percent of
them living below the poverty rate, had been selected by the state
to be the home of a new prison with an annual payroll of 48 million
dollars. Economic hope filled the air. Paved roads would become
reality, and indoor plumbing, heating, and electricity became a
possibility. |
Upon learning this, Jesse
Jackson suddenly found it imperative to protect the poor black
property owners from potential white land grabbers. Mind you, Jesse
may have driven by this community several times on his way south to
Decatur, Illinois, to protect seven high school thugs, but had not
ventured into Pembroke in three decades. Only after it was suddenly
profitable for Jackson was he there. He came making promises. He
promised to make sure these citizens, some with little education and
no marketable job skills, were first in line to get some of the
$45,000 a year jobs. He promised to march with them 155 miles to the
Illinois state capital as he had done in Selma, Alabama, 40 years
ago. He promised to be there for the long haul.
As with all
things Jesse, those promises came with a catch. The poor and
unemployed were expected to pay $35 to join Operation PU$H.
When I took it upon myself to warn my fellow citizens
that when you deal with Jesse Jackson, you pay dues and still get
used and that it was more spiritually and financially advantageous
for them to join the Mickey Mouse club for free, I was subjected to
Jackson's wrath.
For speaking out against the great Reverend Jackson, I
was targeted for physical violence. His newly appointed Operation
PU$H president of Kankakee County went on public radio on two
separate occasions. During one broadcast from his pulpit, this
preacher said I was a rat and would best be handled with baseball
bats and flashlights.
During his second sermon, he added that I was a dead
dog and blood-sucking flea. Imagine that, the pastor of the largest
black church in the county, a civil rights leader anointed by Jesse
Jackson, condoning and advocating violence from the pulpit. No
wonder we need prayer back in school because it is not being taught
in some churches.
As fate would have it, the new governor of Illinois
cancelled the prison project, and all hope disappeared. The
prospective good-paying jobs disappeared. The anticipated real
estate appreciation disappeared, and the predictable -- and the
predictable Jesse Jackson disappeared. I am here today to ask what
some folks from Pembroke are asking. Where is Jesse Jackson now?
What about the promises he made? When is the march? Where is the
membership money?
You and I know the answers to those questions. Jesse
Jackson has gone on to sell his drug of poverty to other
ill-informed victims. His promises lasted as long as a New Year's
resolution, and Jesse marched all right -- off to the bank with
their membership dues.
However, to those still addicted to poverty, there is
hope. Any day is a good day to do as Maya Angelou suggests, "Take a
day to heal from the lies you've told yourself and the ones that
have been told to you."
We are here today to compare and contrast two men. Dr.
King was like a breath of fresh air to the civil rights movement.
Jesse Jackson is like a smoke filled stairwell that suffocates the
mind and spirit of the masses trapped by his rhetoric. Let me say
emphatically, there is no comparison.
In closing, I
would like to borrow a few words from Dr. King; "I say to you
today, even though we still face some difficulties today, I have my
own dream. It, too, is a dream that is deeply rooted in the
capitalist dream. I have a dream that one day black America and
corporate America will rise up, live out the true meaning of the
creed. No more scams. No more scams. Please God Almighty, no more
scams." |
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"We will repudiate Jesse Jackson until he
repents
for his
40 year legacy of scamming America!"
This is the goal of Rev. Jesse
Lee Peterson, the author of this annual event
that is held every year on the day Dr. King's birthday is observed
to show
the contrast between M.L.K.'s dream & Jesse Jackson's
nightmare.
Hosted by BOND, this year's
event was held on Monday, January 19, 2004,
from 10am-Noon at 1968 West Adams Blvd., in Los Angeles,
California,
in front of RAINBOW/PUSH L.A. Ron was a guest speaker
for this event.
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