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Jesse Jackson's Argumentative Essay

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Of all possible places that Reverend Jesse Jackson would speak at, Shelby County, Alabama, typically does not first come to mind. This past Friday though, on March 3, 2017, exactly that happened: Jesse Jackson arrived in Montevallo and was greeted by the likes of Montevallo High School Principal Brandon Turner and Mayor Hollie Cost. Jackson entered the school surrounded with the echoes of thunderous applause before making his way to center-stage to begin his speech. He began his address with his signature chant-and-response poem “I Am Somebody” by William Holmes Borders. Alongside Jackson on either side of the stage sat many local dignitaries, including the aforementioned Principal Turner and Mayor Cost, as well as the Shelby County assistant superintendent, Coach Pierson, several members of Montevallo’s City Council, and Montevallo’s own Reverend Kenny Dukes. Jackson, being a well-known civil rights activist and American …show more content…

Once again expressing the necessity for civil liberty, Jackson incorporated his days of fighting for black equality into his message, again evoking an obligation for equality. To press his point further of voting importance, he called for all eighteen-year-old students not registered to vote to come up to the front and register then and there. After his address, Jackson allowed for questions, to which he specified on his relationship with his colleague Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and thoroughly explained the intent and message of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jackson’s messages of unity and togetherness will never be forgotten by those who witnessed the historical event and they will resonate to a spiritual level to all who listened and absorbed his sense of love, social harmony, and the most fundamental right to all:

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