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TO REQUEST THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NAME THE PORTION OF HAYNIE STREET IN THE CITY OF GREENVILLE IN GREENVILLE COUNTY FROM ITS INTERSECTION WITH UNITED STATES HIGHWAY 29 TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY 20 "REVEREND JESSE L. JACKSON, SR. STREET" AND ERECT APPROPRIATE MARKERS OR SIGNS ALONG THIS STREET CONTAINING THESE WORDS.
Whereas, the members of the General Assembly take great pride in recognizing those very special individuals who have become iconic figures and distinguished leaders in American society as a result of their many years of hard work, civil activism, and sheer courage to seek to improve the lives of their fellow Americans and future generations; and
Whereas, such an American icon is the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., who, as one of America's foremost political figures, has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, and economic and social justice throughout his life; and
Whereas, known for bringing people together across lines of race, class, gender, and belief, Reverend Jackson has been called "the conscience of the nation" and "the great unifier," challenging America to establish just and humane priorities; and
Whereas, born on October 8, 1941, in the City of Greenville, he is a graduate of Sterling High School, attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship, and later transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University where he received a bachelor of science degree in sociology in 1964; and
Whereas, a participant in the historic Selma to Montgomery march, he began his activism as a student leader in the "sit-in movement" and continued as a young organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as an assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and
Whereas, he went on to found People United to Save Humanity (PUSH) in Chicago in 1971 and the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, which merged into the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in 1996; and
Whereas, Reverend Jackson's two presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 broke new ground in United States politics and inspired over three million people to register and join the political process; and
Whereas, as a highly respected world leader, Reverend Jackson has acted many times as an international diplomat in sensitive situations, securing the release of U.S. Navy Lt. Robert Goodman from Syria in 1983 and twenty-two Americans being held in Cuba in 1984, and negotiating the release of three U.S. servicemen captured while performing peacekeeping duty for the United Nations during the Kosovo War in 1999; and
Whereas, Reverend Jackson has been honored throughout his storied career with awards that include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Bill Clinton on August 9, 2000, and in 1989, the NAACP Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American, joining such notables as Dr. King, W.E.B. DuBois, George Washington Carver, and A. Phillip Randolph. He has received more than forty honorary doctorate degrees in the United States. In the United Kingdom, he was named an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford University in November 2007, received an Honorary Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, and was inducted into England's prestigious Cambridge Union Society in March 2010. In August 2021, he received the National Order of the Legion of Honour, France's highest order of merit, both military and civil, by French President Emmanuel Macron; and
Whereas, a hallmark of Reverend Jackson's work has been his commitment to youth; he has visited thousands of high schools, colleges, universities, and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring hope, and challenging young people to seek academic excellence and to stay drug free; and
Whereas, a renowned orator, Reverend Jackson has received numerous honors for his work in human and civil rights and for nonviolent social change. In October 1997, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton as "Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa"; and
Whereas, Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1963 and is the proud father of six children: Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, and Ashley Laverne Jackson; and
Whereas, it is most appropriate that we recognize the many contributions and lifetime of achievement of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., by naming a street in the City of Greenville in his honor. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly request the Department of Transportation name the portion of Haynie Street in the City of Greenville in Greenville County from its intersection with United States Highway 29 to its intersection with South Carolina Highway 20 "Reverend Jessie L. Jackson, Sr. Street" and erect appropriate markers or signs along this street containing these words.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.
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