Rev. Jesse Jackson's impact in Indianapolis
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Rev. Jesse Jackson speaking during the Farm Aid Festival at the Hoosier Dome in 1990, and catching up with Larry Bird before Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in 2000. Photos: Paul Natkin/WireImage and Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images.
From inspiring the IBE to speaking on behalf of farmers, Rev. Jesse Jackson left a lasting mark on the city of Indianapolis.
Driving the news: Jackson died Tuesday after a career in activism and politics during a national transformation in civil rights and inequality.
What they're saying: "Today we mourn a civil rights icon," Rep. André Carson said Tuesday on WISH-TV. "I also mourn a mentor, and really, an inspiration. Rev. Jackson had a vision for a 'Rainbow Coalition.' The idea that people from different backgrounds could be united in the fight for social justice."
- "We're in a time where some politicians use diversity as a dirty word or a bad word ... Diversity actually makes us better in every way, and Rev. Jackson really changed our nation's landscape."
Flashback: Jackson is credited as the founder of the Black exposition concept, and those who helped bring the Indiana Black Expo to life in 1971 say it was his work in Chicago two years prior that made it possible.
- The nation's first Black Expo, sponsored by the Jackson-led Operation Breadbasket of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, drew more than 650,000 people for a multi-day celebration of Black business, culture and leadership in 1969.
In 1990, Jackson took the stage inside the Hoosier Dome during the Farm Aid IV Festival to speak to a capacity crowd about the plight of family farmers and lead a "keep hope alive" chant.
- "And all of us are affected," he said. "If you eat, you're involved in agriculture."
Jackson was initially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015, but his diagnosis was later revised to a rare neurological disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy. He had been confined to a wheelchair in recent years.
- Still, he visited Indianapolis in February 2024 to attend the HBCU Classic and NBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.