Quotes from Jesse Jackson

For me, Barack Obama's election was a milestone of the most extraordinary kind. On the day he was elected I felt such hope in my heart. I thought we were seeing the beginning of a new era of equal opportunity across race and gender such as America had never known before.

The coffers are full of money and equipment for the Ferguson Police and the Missouri National Guard to put down a potential uprising, but no money for actually uplifting the people of Ferguson, St. Louis, Missouri and around the nation.

There's a full-court press to put down an uprising around Ferguson, but no preparation for lifting up the people there.

Urban America has been redlined. Government has not offered tax incentives for investment, as it has in a dozen foreign markets. Banks have redlined it. Industries have moved out, they've redlined it. Clearly, to break up the redlining process, there must be incentives to green-line with hedges against risk.

When we're unemployed, we're called lazy; when the whites are unemployed it's called a depression.

What we have to be judged by is the work we try to do. It's public service, not perfect service.

The invasion only made matters worse. The occupation will not work, Iraq is unoccupiable, that will not work.

If you run, you might lose. If you don't run, you're guaranteed to lose.

Most blacks will argue that they excel because of hard work, because of intellect, determination, sweat, blood, tears and risk.

Why would anyone be able to make $21 million not showing up for work for a single day? That is vulgar capitalism. That is not good for the nation.

We have to judge politicians by their cumulative score. In one innings they make a great catch, in another they drop the ball. In one they score a home run, in another they strike out. But it is their cumulative batting average that we are interested in.

Our dreams must be stronger than our memories. We must be pulled by our dreams, rater than pushed by our memories.

The American people on the ground need a clearer, stronger, Lyndon B. Johnson-type voice from their president. Obama has that voice. It has to be used.

The American people on the ground need a clearer, stronger, Lyndon B. Johnson-type voice from their president.

Obama used to be a community organizer. He knows how to build communities.

We've removed the ceiling above our dreams. There are no more impossible dreams.

Music of all arts should be expansive and inclusive.

When we take out school psychologists, truant officers, counselors, art, music, and athletics, and bring in the police, the school gets turned into a feeder system for the penal system.

Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. The absence of noise isn't the presence of justice - and we must demand justice in Ferguson and the other 'Fergusons' around America.

Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.

There's great disparity between who goes to college and who goes to jail. Who lives long and who dies prematurely, is the defining issue of our time. And I submit to you, there's a significant race dimension, it is basically class-driven.

Who lives long and who dies prematurely, is the defining issue of our time. And I submit to you, there's a significant race dimension, it is basically class-driven.

Any attempt to dilute my support for Sen. Obama will not succeed.

In many ways Africa subsidised America and Europe's development.