OPPapers.com

African American Leaders

Ashley White
General Writing
Martha McCully
3/28/02

Jesse Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B DuBois are all African American leaders. All of these men were leaders in their own time and their own sense, living in different eras with different views, but they all shared common ground. All four were African Americans trying to overcome obstacles and become influential leaders in their society.

Jesse Jackson was an African American civil rights activist and political leader. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1941. Jackson overcame numerous childhood insecurities. He was shunned and taunted my classmates and neighbors. However, instead of letting this adversity defeat him, Jackson developed his exceptional drive and understanding for the oppressed. He worked hard in school, finishing 10th in his class while actively involved in sports. His academic and athletic background earned Jackson a football scholarship at the University of Illinois in Chicago. It was here Jackson realized discrimination was inescapable. After 3 years he left the University and attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, an institution for African-American students. He proved himself to be scholar athlete.

Soon after college Jesse Jackson began his civil rights quest. He founded two groups, the PUSH operation and the rainbow coalition, in order to promote racial and economic justice in the United States. Then, in 1984 and 1988 Jackson campaigned as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. Even today, Jackson is renowned spokesman and continues to work for racial and economic justice.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was a radio journalist in Philadelphia, known as "the voice of the voiceless". He was born in Philadelphia on April 24, 1954. Mumia Abu Jamal was the Minister of Information for the Philadelphia Black Panthers at a very early age. By the age of 15 he had attracted much attention through his protests and...