Jonathan Jackson (Illinois politician)

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 Born January 7th, 1966, Jonathan Luther Jackson is an American activist and politician. Since 2023, he has proudly served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district. A dedicated member of the Democratic Party, he carries the legacy of his father, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Before entering Congress, Jonathan was the national spokesman for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a seasoned financial analyst, and a partner in the Chicago-based beer distributorship, River North Sales and Service. Born in Chicago, Jonathan is the son of the renowned civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Jesse Jackson, and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson. His godfather, Martin Luther King Jr., gifted him his middle name. Jonathan is one of six siblings, with Santita Jackson and former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. being his elder siblings, and Yusef, Jacqueline Jackson, and Ashley, his younger siblings. His education began at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, where he excelled as a student-athlete. He then attended his parents' alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University, earning a bachelor's degree in business. His academic journey continued at the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he obtained his MBA. From a young age, Jonathan was immersed in civil and human rights activism. He traveled the globe as an aide to his father, witnessing firsthand pivotal moments in history. In 1983, he accompanied his father to Syria, where negotiations with President Hafez al-Assad led to the release of captured American pilot Robert Goodman. In 1984, he met Fidel Castro during diplomatic efforts for the release of 22 Americans held in Cuba. In August 2005, he was by his father's side in Venezuela, meeting President Hugo Chávez, and unequivocally condemned controversial remarks suggesting assassination. In 2007, Jonathan Jackson took a leading role as national spokesman for the RainbowPUSH Coalition, championing the causes of innocence and juvenile justice. He brought to light the personal stories and ongoing struggles of individuals who alleged torture by the Chicago Police Department to extract confessions. He highlighted cases like Darrell Cannon, who faced the death penalty, and Oscar Walden, Illinois's first exoneree, sentenced to 75 years for a crime he did not commit. Jackson has also been a steadfast advocate for Johnnie Lee Savory, a man convicted of murder who, after serving over 28 years, was released on parole. Jonathan, along with other prominent figures, has petitioned Illinois governors to order DNA testing in Savory's case, aiming to prove his innocence and identify the true perpetrator. In 2008, Jonathan turned his attention to the critical issue of Chicago Public School closures. He organized public hearings and civic education initiatives to combat the closure and turnaround of schools by private entities, advocating instead for investment in existing institutions and the preservation of community memory, particularly in neighborhoods with high student mobility and homelessness. His efforts were instrumental in saving Guggenheim Elementary School from closure in 2010, arguing that forcing students to travel further endangered them and highlighting the school's improving test scores and strong community support. He had previously persuaded officials to abandon plans to close Holmes Elementary School. Jackson's perspective on the outsourcing of public education aligns with a growing chorus of educators and activists who criticize the overemphasis on test scores and the privatization of schools, arguing that it allows for cherry-picking of students and diverts resources from marginalized children. Professionally, Jonathan Jackson began his career in 1988 at Drexel Burnham Lambert as an investment analyst for Michael Milken. He later worked as an analyst at Independence Bank, a runner at the Chicago Board of Trade, and developed real estate. He rejoined Milken at Knowledge Universe in the late 1990s, focusing on investments in wireless, real estate, and distribution. In 1998, Jonathan and his brother Yusef became owners of an Anheuser-Busch distributorship, River North Sales and Service, LLC. This venture faced skepticism due to a past boycott organized by their father, who sought greater business opportunities for the African-American community. In 2009, Jonathan led a group of minority investors in a significant bid to acquire ION Media Networks. He has also shared his expertise by teaching finance and entrepreneurship at City Colleges of Chicago and serving as a business professor at Chicago State University. In August 2012, reports emerged suggesting Jonathan Jackson was being positioned to succeed his brother, Jesse Jackson Jr., in Congress, should Jesse Jr. be unable to seek re-election. While the elder Jackson denied such plans, Jonathan was actively involved in building his Cricket Wireless franchise operation at the time. In February 2022, Jonathan Jackson announced his candidacy for Illinois's 1st congressional district following the incumbent's retirement. Campaigning on a progressive platform and endorsed by figures like Bernie Sanders, he secured a victory in the Democratic primary and easily won the general election in this heavily Democratic seat. He ran unopposed in the 2024 Democratic primary and defeated Republican Marcus Lewis in the general election. For the 119th Congress, Congressman Jackson serves on the Committee on Agriculture, including subcommittees on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development, and Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture. He is also a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, with assignments to the Subcommittees on Africa and Western Hemisphere. His caucus memberships include the Black Maternal Health Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment. Jonathan Jackson and Marilyn Ann Richards married in 1995, and they are the proud parents of three children: Jonathan T. Jackson, Leah Jackson, and Noah Jackson.
Jonathan_Jackson_(Illinois_politician)

Full Wikipedia Article

 Jonathan Luther Jackson (born January 7, 1966) is an American activist and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party and son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, he was previously the national spokesman for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a financial analyst, and a partner in the beer distributorship River North Sales and Service, based in Chicago. == Early life and education == Jackson was born in Chicago, to Jesse Jackson, a noted civil rights activist and Baptist minister, and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson. His godfather was Martin Luther King Jr., from whom Jackson gets his middle name. Jackson has five siblings, Santita Jackson and former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., his elders, and Yusef, Jacqueline Jackson, and Ashley, his younger siblings. Jackson attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, where he was a student-athlete. He attended his parents' alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, to study business where he obtained his bachelor's degree. He is also an MBA graduate of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. == Civil and human rights activism == Born into a family steeped in human rights activism, Jackson traveled the world as an aide de camp to his father. He traveled to Syria in 1983, when his father negotiated with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad to release captured American pilot Robert Goodman. He met Fidel Castro in 1984, when his father negotiated the release of 22 Americans being held in Cuba. He was also with his father in August 2005, when he traveled to Venezuela to meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. This followed controversial remarks by televangelist Pat Robertson implying that Chávez should be assassinated. Jackson condemned Robertson's remarks as immoral. In 2007, Jonathan Jackson took on the issues of innocence and juvenile justice as national spokesman for the RainbowPUSH Coalition. He has highlighted the personal stories and continued trials of those who accused the Chicago Police Department of torturing them to obtain confessions that landed them in prison. They include Darrell Cannon, who faced the death penalty for a 1983 drug-related murder. Cannon was released after accepting a January 2001 deal to abandon his torture claim in exchange for being released, according to the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions. Jackson has also showcased the travails of Oscar Walden, who in 1952 became Illinois's first exoneree. Walden was freed after being sentenced to 75 years for a rape he did not commit. Jackson has championed the cause of Johnnie Lee Savory, a Peoria native convicted of stabbing to death his friends Connie Cooper and James Robinson in their Peoria home in 1977. After serving over 28 years in prison, Savory was released on parole on December 19, 2006. Jackson is among several notables who have petitioned the Illinois governor—first Rod Blagojevich, then Pat Quinn—to order DNA testing in Savory's case to prove not only that did Savory not kill his friends, but also to pinpoint the person widely suspected of committing the crime. In 2008, Jackson turned his attention to the closures of Chicago Public Schools. He has led several schools to public hearings and civic education training to thwart school closures and turnarounds by private companies in favor of investing in existing schools and keeping a community's institutional memory intact—especially in highly mobile neighborhoods where large numbers of students are homeless or living on the economic margins. In February 2010, he succeeded in helping Guggenheim Elementary School get off the closure list. Guggenheim is in the Englewood community on the city's South Side. Jackson, among others, made the case that forcing students to walk any further to school put them in harm's way. They also made the case that Guggenheim's test scores have steadily improved and it had a close-knit community with the momentum to achieve further gains. Previously, Jackson had persuaded school officials to abandon plans to close Holmes Elementary School, among others. Jackson's view of outsourcing public education mirrors that of an emerging vocal group of educators such as New York University's Diane Ravitch and activists who assert that over-reliance on test scores and privatizing of public schools through wholesale charters and outsourcing allows schools to cherry-pick their student bodies while siphoning resources from the most marginalized children. They consider programs such as No Child Left Behind and charter schools as a divestment of public education. == Professional career == Jackson started his career in 1988 at Drexel Burnham Lambert as an investment analyst for Michael Milken, an American financier and philanthropist, noted for his role in developing a market for high-yield bonds known as junk bonds. Jackson later worked as an analyst at Independence Bank, was a Shatkin Arbor runner at the Chicago Board of Trade, and developed real estate for East Lake Management in Chicago. He rejoined Milken at Knowledge Universe in the late 1990s and engages in investments in the wireless, real estate and distribution sectors. In 1998, Jackson, with his brother Yusef, became owners of a Anheuser-Busch distributorship–River North Sales and Service, LLC in Chicago. The deal was met with charges of skepticism and nepotism because Jackson's father had organized a boycott of the brewery's products in the early 1980s. The elder Jackson wanted the brewery to do more business in the African-American community. In 2009, Jackson led a group of minority investors in a $250 million bid to buy ION Media Networks, the country's largest chain of independent TV stations. Partnered with Cyrus Capital Partners, an investment firm in Manhattan, New York, he said that second-lien lenders are treated as second-class citizens. He has taught finance and entrepreneurship at City Colleges of Chicago and is a business professor at Chicago State University in Chicago. On August 8, 2012, New York Post writer Tara Palmeri said that an unnamed source close to the Jackson family claimed Jonathan Jackson was being primed to take his brother's place in Congress. In a follow-up to reports about Jesse Jackson Jr.'s treatment at the Mayo Clinic for depression and gastrointestinal disorders, the Post said Jesse Jackson Jr. was "laying the groundwork" for Jonathan to run in the November election if Jesse Jr. "is not up to running for reelection." The elder Jackson, according to the Post, has denied laying the table for Jonathan. In addition to teaching a full load at Chicago State, at the time Jonathan was a businessman focused on building his Cricket Wireless franchise operation. == U.S. House of Representatives (2023–present) == === Elections === ==== 2022 ==== In February 2022, Jackson announced his candidacy to represent Illinois's 1st congressional district after the incumbent, Bobby Rush, announced a month before that he was retiring. Campaigning as a progressive, he was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and other figures in the progressive wing of his party. He won a crowded Democratic primary with approximately 30% of the vote, and later easily the general election as expected in this heavily Democratic seat. ==== 2024 ==== Jackson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican Marcus Lewis in the general election, receiving 65.8% of the vote. === Current committee assignments === For the 119th Congress: Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere === Caucus memberships === Black Maternal Health Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus Congressional Black Caucus Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment == Electoral history == === 2022 === === 2024 === == Personal life == Jackson and Marilyn Ann Richards of Brooklyn, New York married in 1995. Their children are Jonathan T. Jackson, Leah Jackson, and Noah Jackson. == See also == List of African-American United States representatives == References == == External links == Congressman Jonathan Jackson official U.S. House website Jackson for Congress campaign website Appearances on C-SPAN Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress Profile at Vote Smart Home Languages