Last year, at the RAINBOW PUSH Convention, Rev. Jesse Jackson named Reverend Dr. Frederick Haynes his successor. On February 1, 2023, the first day of Black History Month, a formal ceremony was held in Dallas to confirm Hayne’s newly appointed position. The inaugural was in Texas, not Chicago. WRONG. Newsman Roland Martin was the only one to record it and share it with the public.
Haynes is brilliant, holds doctoral degrees from Oxford University, and is a candidate for another doctorate at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. He is the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in North Texas. When he assumed the senior pastor position, there were less than 100 members, and today, the church enjoys a membership of 13,000. Haynes knows how to grow and build a congregation. He has served as pastor for the past 40 years. Being a pastor of a full-bodied church means walking people through the lifecycle – marriage, christenings, graduations, illness, counseling, divorces, and funerals. It takes a lot of devotion and personal sacrifice to serve the ministry.
Haynes – (In and Out Avenue)
Haynes abruptly resigned from the successor position after only three months. He did not move to Chicago to be at Rainbow Push, and there was no welcome wagon for him. Not one reception was hosted, and not one community meeting was held to greet him in Chicago. Haynes never assumed an office at PUSH. Rev. Jackson was blindsided by the public resignation. Sometimes, it’s not what you do but how you do it. Rev. Jackson was disrespected and blindsided by the suddenness of the announcement. Haynes has received more press attention for leaving the organization than he did for greeting it. Not one major newspaper interviewed him. There were news bites on TV. I interviewed him in depth at N’DIGO STUDIO in what became two episodes that aired on NBC local on November 11th and 18th. He was so captivating the interview could not be contained in 30 minutes. He was intriguing as he had told quite a story from his college days to now. His dissertation “To Turn the World Upside Down: Church Growth in a Church Committed to Social Justice,” reflects his commitment to faith based social activism. He teaches and preaches liberation theology.
Haynes at PUSH was a poorly conceived notion. Jackson’s announcement of Haynes’ appointment was as sudden as Haynes’ departure. It is impossible to pastor a congregation of 13,000 in Texas and run a civil rights organization in Chicago simultaneously. Rev. Martin Luther King had no church, and Rev. Jesse Jackson had no church. They were speakers in pulpits with powerful messages on a public stage.
Beacons of Hope
Rev. Jesse Jackson will not be replaced by a single person. The critical question facing civil rights movements, and by extension, the society at large, is one of succession on who possesses the moral fortitude, intellectual acumen, and sheer grit to step into the sizable shoes of leaders such as Jackson? His portfolio and resume are beyond compare, making him one of America’s most significant figures in contemporary history. As Jackson traveled on political crusades for elections, he included voter registration. To date, Jackson has been responsible for registering 6 million new voters. This is the most voters any single person has been responsible for. He enjoys iconic status. His rescue missions and his run for President of the United States modernized Democratic Party. He has pivoted on the world stage, visiting African countries as a statesman, receiving the highest honor in France, the “Legion D’Honneur“ for what the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said was recognition of “a long walk towards emancipation and justice.”
He has traveled the world as a presenter and negotiator without government consent. He is one of the best critical political minds offering analysis and winning strategies. He has made regular headlines along the way with news conferences and television chats, making him one of the most covered people in United States history, but not always favorably, depending on the election and the pundit. He has watched leaders of his generation assassinated, President John F. Kennedy, Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Bobby Kennedy, as they have been beacon voices to right the wrongs of America. His was a big step to assume a national leadership role, given the serial public murders. His passion was to continue their work. Dr. King changed America, and so did Jackson. King changed and challenged America’s constitution. Jackson changed and challenged America’s caste system. Both were charismatic leaders with eloquent voices that aroused the crowd into action.
Jackson campaigned worldwide, establishing a new brand of progressive politics, which was inclusion. He has spoken in nearly all of the Black pulpits in America. The Jackson playbook and contact list led Bill Clinton to victory. His schedule was busy as he championed marches across the country for social ills. He has been an original “content provider” as he has organized the Black Expo to the Wall Street Conference. The annual PUSH Convention Conference, PUSH Excel, and the annual salute to celebrate and remember Dr. King on his birthday. These functions have been designed to benefit Black America and to challenge America at large. He refers to himself as “the country preacher,” and along the way, his voice became the preacher to the country. His voice is so formidable that corporate heads do not want his phone call to discuss diversity, inclusion, and equity. He has no peers and no job description. He has been a maverick.
He followed in the footsteps of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, to become a thought leader and, most of all, an activist for equity in multiple spheres. All of this to say, there is probably no successor or replacement for Rev. Jesse Jackson as we have experienced him. Iconic figures usually do not have replacements; they have followers who continue and create expansions. He has been a change agent. He is the longest-living active civil rights leader.
Fine Tune and Adjustments
RAINBOW PUSH requires reorganization, rethinking, restructuring, and a revamp of how the Civil Rights Movement operates in the digital world, where everyone has an opinion and is a photographer. America’s political dynamic today is in constant conflict, with old men running for office and young people not voting. The media has changed from singular stations to multiples and streaming with a 24-hour media cycle. I don’t think a singular person can fill Jackson’s shoes, just as a singular person did not fill Dr. King’s shoes. King’s successors, most notably, were Jackson, Andrew Young, and John Lewis. There was no coronation; there was work to be done, and they all played various roles, seizing political opportunities. They were on the “critical race theory” before it was critical.
Rainbow PUSH begs for a new leadership that provides the beam that it has always been in the area of economics, politics, and social justice. It is time for a new generation to come forth and join the veteran team. America still suffers from the injustices. With social justice movements evolving in the wake of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, definitive and dynamic leadership has never been more crucial. The question of ‘replacing‘ Jackson is somewhat misnomered — Jackson’s inheritance is less about an individual than it is about an ethos that perseveres, an unyielding spirit that spurs action, perhaps now more than ever. Team leadership is probably the way to go, rather than charming charmisa with volunteers in the background.
This is not a call for replacing one individual leader with another. It goes beyond that. We need a collective team leadership that encompasses diverse perspectives and experiences. It’s time for a new generation to join forces.
Jackson has Parkinson’s disease, and it has limited his mobility, but not his mind. His mind is as sharp as ever, but his body does not keep up. It’s difficult for him to travel, and he requires assistance. He has done his work. He has served us as he has brought about social change and brightened the horizon for many. He is not always recognized but known. He continues to move about, attending, teaching others, and taking photographs. It would pay us well to continue his path. He has seen two sons elected to Congress. No other Black family has that award. He has seen a President come from his PUSH community. He has developed preachers to teach the gospel, build communities, and become activists. He did not do this with a classroom approach. He led by real example. Come go with me is his approach. He has used his live platform on Saturday mornings to challenge corporate America and to elect mayors, congressmen, senators, and all history makers. He has fought Hollywood for better representation of marginalized people, from the script to the award program and the improved movie images. The year he protested at the Academy Award ceremony, he marched ALONE.
He assumed King’s mantle; now is the time for us collectively to pick up his mantle in multiple forms. Yusef Jackson, the youngest of the Jackson sons, moves forward with a business sensibility. Others will come to articulate and interpret contemporary issues to be the spokesman. Rev. Al Sharpton, a Jackson mentee, rose to the national stage, duplicating Jackson’s action, and changed the political culture of New York politics as Jackson changed Chicago’s using Jackson tactics and methodologies. He is brilliant on the morning shows with perspectives on issues of the day, from war to politics to shootings.
America needs a civil rights organization today more than ever, as we watch on TV the unbelievable soap opera of a presidential candidate in the courtroom. We watch books banned from the library and classroom, and we watch the Arizona clock turn backward into another era for women, 1864, when women could not vote, and the Civil War was being fought. We watch the wars. I am convinced that if Jackson were up to it, he would be in Israel and maybe Russia to negotiate peace treaties. I would argue, “Jesse, don’t go because it’s dangerous.” He would argue back, “It’s more dangerous that the war continues as it approaches World War III.” These are civil rights issues. These are issues Jackson would address. He would lead the march for the shootings in Chicago of our youth and policemen. He challenged the status quo.
The question is, where do we go from here, and how do we reimagine ourselves? It’s not Freddie or Jesse. It’s us. Let’s keep Hope alive.
