Rainbow/PUSH

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Rainbow/PUSH

"The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks on a radio broadcast from the headquarters of Operation PUSH, at its annual convention." July 1973. Photograph by John H. White.
"The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks on a radio broadcast from the headquarters of Operation PUSH, at its annual convention." July 1973. Photograph by John H. White.
Formation 1971
Type Civil rights
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois
Location Flag of the United States United States
Official languages English
President Jesse Jackson
Website www.rainbowpush.org

Rainbow/PUSH is a non-profit organization formed as a merger of two non-profit organizations — Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition — founded by Jesse Jackson. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism.

In December 1971, Jackson resigned from Operation Breadbasket after clashing with Rev. Ralph Abernathy and founded Operation PUSH. Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984 which merged with PUSH in 1996. The combined organization keeps its national headquarters on the South Side of Chicago and has branches in Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, the Silicon Valley, and New Orleans.

Operation PUSH was successful at raising public awareness to initiate corporate action and government sponsorship. The National Rainbow coalition became a prominent political organization that raised public awareness on numerous political issues and consolidated a large voting block. The merged entity has undertaken numerous social initiatives.

Contents

[edit] PUSH

Rainbow/PUSH Headquarters in the Kenwood community area of Chicago
Rainbow/PUSH Headquarters in the Kenwood community area of Chicago

Operation PUSH, an acronym for People United to Save (later Serve) Humanity, was an organization which advocated black self-help and achieved a broad audience for its liberal stances on issues of social justice and civil rights.[1]

The origins of Operation PUSH can be traced to a factional split in Operation Breadbasket, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.[2] In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr., the head of the SCLC, appointed Jackson to head the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket, which became a coalition of black ministers and entrepreneurs.[3]

After 1968, however, Jackson increasingly clashed with King's successor at SCLC, Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The break became complete in December 1971 when Abernathy suspended Jackson for “administrative improprieties and repeated acts of violation of organizational policy.” Jackson resigned from Operation Breadbasket, called together his allies, and Operation PUSH was born. From its inception, Jackson referred to its membership as a "Rainbow Coalition."[3] Although money was a problem at first, initial backing came from Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, Gary, Indiana Mayor Richard Hatcher, Aretha Franklin, Jim Brown, and Ossie Davis.[3]

Jesse Jackson speaks at 1973 PUSH National Convention
Jesse Jackson speaks at 1973 PUSH National Convention

The organizational meeting of PUSH was in the Chicago home of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a prominent black doctor and community leader on the South Side. Before he moved to Chicago in 1956, Howard had developed a national reputation as a Mississippi civil rights leader, surgeon, and entrepreneur. Howard served on PUSH's board of directors and chaired the finance committee.

Through PUSH Jackson was able to continue pursuit of the same economic objectives that Operation Breadbasket had pursued. In addition, his new organization was able to expand into areas of social and political development for blacks in Chicago and across the nation. The 1970s saw various tactics to pursue the organization's objectives including direct action campaigns, weekly radio broadcasts, and awards through which Jackson protected black homeowners, workers, and businesses, and honored prominent blacks in the U.S. and abroad. The organization was concerned with minority youth reading,[4] and it championed education through PUSH-Excel, a spin-off program that emphasized keeping inner-city youths in school while assisting them with job placement.[5] The program, which persuaded inner city youth to pledge in writing to study two hours per night and which involves parental monitoring,[6] impressed Jimmy Carter whose administration became a large sponsor after Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano and Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall courted Jackson.[7][8]

Lake Shore Drive Senior Citizens March (July 1973)
Lake Shore Drive Senior Citizens March (July 1973)

The organization was very successful at committing major corporations with large presences in the black community to adopt affirmative action programs in which they hired more black executives and supervisors and to buy from black suppliers, wholesalers, and distributors.[7] The organization employed prayer vigils as a technique to call attention to issues.[9] The organization opposed Ronald Reagan's workfare initiative to compel that welfare recipients work for part of their benefits.[10]

The organization staged several boycotts including early 1980s boycotts of Anheuser Busch and Coca Cola as well as a 1986 boycott of CBS television affiliates.[11][12] The boycotts became so well known that at one point David Duke supporters referred to a boycott of Nike, Inc. as if whites were being oppressed by blacks.[13] Nike spokesperson, Michael Jordan, disavowed the Nike boycott.[14] The boycotts of Budweiser, and Coke as well as one against Kentucky Fried Chicken were touted for having won minority job concessions from white businesses.[15]

[edit] National Rainbow Coalition

The National Rainbow Coalition (Rainbow Coalition for short) was a political organization that grew out of Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign. During the campaign Jackson began speaking to a "Rainbow Coalition" of the disadvantaged and rejected voters from a broad spectrum of races and creeds.[7] The goals of the campaign were to demand social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action for all groups that had been neglected by Reaganomics.[5] Jackson's campaign blamed President Ronald Reagan's policies for reduction of government domestic spending, causing new unemployment and encouraging economic investment outside of the inner cities, while they discouraged the rebuilding of urban industry. The industrial layoffs caused by these policies hit the black and other minority populations particularly hard.[7] At the 1984 Democratic National Convention on July 18, 1984 in San Francisco, California, Jackson delivered the Keynote address, entitled "The Rainbow Coalition".[16] The speech called for Arab Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, youth, disabled veterans, small farmers, lesbians and gays to join with African Americans and Jewish Americans for political purpose. Whereas the purpose of PUSH had been to fight for economic and educational opportunities, the Rainbow Coalition was created to address political empowerment and public policy issues.[17] After his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 1984, Jackson attempted to build the broad base of support among those affected by Reagan's policies (racial minorities, the poor, small farmers, working mothers, the unemployed, some labor union members, gays, and lesbians).[7]

[edit] Merger

Jackson moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to serve as shadow senator from 1991 to 1996. When he returned to Chicago in 1996 he merged his organizations.[18] The merged entity still endeavors for multiculturalism in which it advocates for African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, other minorities, and women. Its main economic goals include more minorities on the payrolls, in the boardrooms, and on the supplier lists of major corporations. The industries it is most aggressively pursuing increased inclusion in opportunities are financial sector on Wall Street, the telecommunications field and high-tech firms in Silicon Valley.[17] The fight on Wall Street is organized by a special Wall Street Project, a lobbying organization for business and employment opportunities for minorities that also raised the collective conscientiousness among African American stockholders of their Wall Street influence.[5] The organization has been active in pursuit of increase minority representation in other industries, most notably the broadcast media, the entertainment industry, and the automobile industry. It has also sought increased representation by minority administrators in college and professional sports under the leadership of Jesse Jackson, Jr.[19] For Hispanic issues the merged entity works closely with the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Council of La Raza.[17]

Among the more interesting social issues the organization has undertaken was its own investigations of the suspicious hanging death of Raynard Johnson in 2000. Johnson was found mysteriously hanged by a belt from the pecan tree in front of his home in Kokomo, Mississippi.[5] The organization had also in 1998 admonished Freddie Mac for its lending and employment practices, which led to its pledge to earmark $1 billion in mortgage loans specifically for minorities, to donate more than $1 million directly to Rainbow/PUSH and to became a sponsor of Jackson's annual Wall Street Project. In the early 2000s, Rainbow/PUSH worked with NASCAR to increase the number of minorities involved in auto racing, through direct financial support and projects to find talented African-American racing drivers.[20] This initiative was ended in 2003, after the racing sanctioning body was criticized by conservative groups for the partnership.[21] Among the smaller campaigns it has undertaken are the HIV/AIDS Initiative for funding for AIDS programs; the National Field Department support of constructive agitation to bring about societal change; and the Prison Outpost project, whose ultimate goal is "to eliminate the need for prisons."

Through his organization and its predecessors Jackson has advocated national health care, a war on drugs, direct peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, ending apartheid in South Africa and advancing democracy in Haiti long before they became acceptable public policy positions.[22] The following is the organization's list of major issues:

Jobs and Economic Empowerment
Employee Rights and Livable Wages
Educational Access
Fair and Decent Housing
Voter Registration and Civic Education
Election Law Reform
Fairness in the Media, Sports, and Criminal Justice System
Political Empowerment
Trade and Foreign Policy
Affirmative Action and Equal Rights
Gender Equality
Environmental Justice

Former congressman Mel Reynolds, who served a sentence in prison for sexual assault and bank fraud, was hired by Rainbow/PUSH as its resident scholar on prison reform after his release in 2001.[23] The organization is a member of several anti-war coalitions including Win Without War, United for Peace and Justice, and After Downing Street.

[edit] See Also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ National Rainbow Coalition (American organization). Encyclopedia Britannica online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  2. ^ Ralph, James (2005). Operation PUSH. Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  3. ^ a b c Jackson PUSHes On. Time. Time, Inc. (1972-01-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  4. ^ Needed: Strong Soldiers. Time. Time, Inc. (1976-05-22). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  5. ^ a b c d Black History: Jesse Jackson. Gale Cengage Learning. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  6. ^ The American Underclass (page 10). Time. Time, Inc. (1977-08-29). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  7. ^ a b c d e Jesse Jackson. Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  8. ^ Shapiro, Walter (1988-04-11). Taking Jesse Seriously (page 9). Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  9. ^ A Fallout Between Friends. Time. Time, Inc. (1977-08-08). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  10. ^ Putting the Poor to Work. Time. Time, Inc. (1981-03-23). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  11. ^ Thomas, Evan (1983-12-19). Sniping. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  12. ^ Kelly, James (1986-04-14). When Push Gives a Shove. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  13. ^ Wills, Garry (1990-10-01). David Duke's Addictive Politics. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  14. ^ Gray, Paul (1990-08-27). Who's Boycotting Whom?. Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  15. ^ Thomas, Evan (1984-05-07). Pride and Prejudice (Page 7). Time. Time, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  16. ^ Top 100 Speeches. American Rhetoric (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
  17. ^ a b c Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Reaches Hispanics. HispanicBusiness.com. Hispanic Business Inc. (2000-11-02). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  18. ^ The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson. pbs.org. WGBH educational foundation. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  19. ^ SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Survey Shows Lack of Jobs for Blacks. The New York Times. The New York Times Company (1993-06-29). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  20. ^ NASCAR is trying to change its image, Rupen Fofaria, ESPN.com, Feb. 12, 2002
  21. ^ NASCAR ends donations to Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH, Chris Jenkins, USA Today, July 28, 2003
  22. ^ Jesse Jackson. Global Leaders. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  23. ^ Dodge, Susan. "Reynolds finds work with S. Side church", Chicago Sun-Times, Newsbank, 2001-01-29. 

[edit] References

  • David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito. T.R.M. Howard M.D.: A Mississippi Doctor in Chicago Civil Rights, A.M.E. Church Review (July-September 2001), 50-59.

[edit] External links