Friends and family say Chicago embraced and nurtured civil rights icon Jesse Jackson from the start
“We were never alone,” his daughter Santita Jackson said. The community surrounded the young leader in every way, helping him and his family thrive.
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s family photo in June 1978: From left, back row: Jonathan Jackson, Santita Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr. From left, front row: Jacqueline Jackson, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Mrs. Jacqueline Jackson and son Yusef Jackson.John H. White/Sun-Times fileIn 1964, Jesse and Jacqueline Jackson drove into Chicago from North Carolina, where they had met, married and had their first child.
In the car, with 1-year-old Santita in tow, a pregnant Jacqueline looked around at the tall buildings Downtown and asked her husband a question:
“Jesse, do you think anyone will get to know us here?”