Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. (October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026) was a civil rights leader, presidential candidate, and founder of the Rainbow Coalition.  He was also an infrastructure builder:

• The Chicago grocery store boycotts that forced A&P and other chains to hire Black workers into better-paid jobs? That created economic stability for thousands of families.
• The voter registration machinery from his presidential campaigns? Black women like Donna Brazile and Maxine Waters turned it into the political infrastructure they still lead on today.
• The health-equity platform published in the American Journal of Public Health? It shaped every fight for universal coverage and single-payer that followed.

Jackson’s legacy isn’t just speeches and symbolism. It’s the practical tools Black women are still using to build power.

From Grocery Store Boycotts to Corporate Contracts

In 1966, Jesse Jackson led the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The goal was clear: force white‑owned corporations to hire Black workers and stock Black‑owned products.

The wins were specific:

• A&P grocery stores and other major chains faced sustained boycotts and agreed to expand hiring of Black employees, opening up more front‑of‑house and supervisory positions.

• Dairy companies committed to employment agreements that opened more driver and distribution jobs for Black workers.

• National brands, including Coca‑Cola, were pushed through Operation Breadbasket‑style campaigns to support Black employment and, in some cities, Black‑owned distributorships.

These weren’t symbolic gestures. They were paychecks. Benefits. Mortgages. College tuition. Pathways into the middle class.

For Black women, this meant something particular. The service and retail jobs Jackson’s campaigns helped open weren’t glamorous, but they were more stable and better paid than many other options. They came with hours you could count on, raises you could negotiate, and workplace protections. For women supporting families, that stability was power.

By 1971, Jackson had founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) to keep the pressure on. A decade later came the Rainbow Coalition, which later merged with PUSH into the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition—a national platform for economic‑justice campaigns that continued forcing corporate accountability.

When we talk today about corporate diversity commitments, supplier equity, and economic justice, we’re talking about tactics Jackson and his peers refined in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s.

How Jackson’s Presidential Campaigns Became Leadership Academies for Black Women

History books remember Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns as symbolic firsts. They were more than that. They were organizing schools.

Donna Brazile worked on Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign and has often described how that experience sharpened her skills in field organizing and voter mobilization. She went on to become the first Black woman to manage a major presidential campaign (Gore 2000) and later to chair the Democratic National Committee—roles where those skills helped shape national Democratic infrastructure.

Maxine Waters—then a California assemblywoman—served as a national co‑chair of Jackson’s presidential campaigns and led the California operation. She didn’t just endorse him. She helped build coalition machinery, turn out voters, and prove that Black women could successfully run large‑scale political operations. That experience helped make her one of the most powerful members of Congress.

These women didn’t just support Jackson’s campaigns. They worked inside them and helped run them. And when the campaigns ended, they kept the infrastructure—the voter files, the volunteer networks, the proven strategies for turning out Black voters in hostile territory.

That’s why when people marvel at Black women’s voter‑turnout rates today, they’re seeing the fruits of seeds planted in those campaigns. Jackson got the podium. Black women built the ground game.

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