My last interview with the Rev. Jesse Jackson (audio)

I spoke several times with the late civil rights icon who expanded the focus to include so many more in the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died today at the age of 84, was a civil rights icon and a pioneer during a pivotal time, a former presidential candidate who brought hope to millions, and a thunderously empowering orator who helped to further civil rights to all groups, including LGBTQ people.

I interviewed him several times. This interview, which you can listen to above, was the last time we spoke, in 2019.

We discussed the push for LGBTQ rights—in 2012 he came on my show and urged the Maryland legislature to back marriage equality—and why he was committed to the cause. (The photo above is actually from a 2010 interview at the One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, DC.)

We briefly talked about the news that had just broken that actor Jesse Smollett, who is gay, had allegedly engaged in a hoax in claiming he’d been a victim of a hate crime—and the media feeding frenzy surrounding the story. Yet, as we both remarked, an actual white supremacist terror plot of the time that was thwarted by the FBI—which was to be carried out by a racist Coast Guard officer who plotted to kill Democrats—was getting little attention from the media.

We also discussed Donald Trump and his assault on America, the Democratic presidential candidates of 2020—and whether they were hitting back hard enough—the continued racism facing African-Americans, and the wealth gap.

It’s a short interview, and it’s worth listening to, giving a sense of the powerful work Jesse Jackson was focused on and how he still had hope even in the darkest times.

“I still see people fighting back and not surrendering,” he said in closing, emphasizing that we have to continue the fight. We surely need to follow his lead.