Celebrating Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. on His Birthday

(l-r) Nizam Ali, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sonya Ali, Kamal Ali

Ben’s Chili Bowl and our Ben’s family wishes the incomparable Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. a very happy 81st birthday. Rev. Jackson has been a member of our family for over 60 years. We love him, admire him and thank him for pushing American “to be all it can be.”

Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is one of America’s most influential progressive voices in the 20th & 21st centuries. At 80 years young on Oct. 8, 2022, Rev. Jackson stands atop a mountain of historic milestones fighting for and winning social justice, racial equity, women’s progress and international efforts for liberation and peace.

He was born in Greenville, SC, attended North Carolina A&T in the early sixties and was ordained a Baptist minister at the Chicago Theological Seminar in 1968 while deeply involved in the civil rights movement. Rev. Jackson was a trusted aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was with him the night Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, TN. on April 4, 1968. During his time with Dr. King, Rev. Jackson was part of some of the most seminal civil rights victories at the Selma Bridge and the Birmingham campaign.

After Dr. King’s death, Rev. Jackson founded Operation Breadbasket in Chicago to pressure the city for equal employment opportunities, integrated housing, racial equity and voter registration. In 1983, his efforts in Chicago were instrumental in the city electing its first Black mayor, Harold Washington. Washington’s victory inspired Rev. Jackson’s run for the presidency in 1984 and 1988 when he nearly won the Democratic nomination for president. His run for presidency inspired Barack Obama’s victory in 2008.

In 1984-86, he led the Free Mandela and End Apartheid in South Africa movements playing an instrumental role in Mandela’s freedom and an end to apartheid.

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Virginia Ali

In 1989, he founded the National Rainbow Coalition that today is one of the foremost civil rights, human rights and labor rights organizations in the world agitating and winning international human rights campaigns worldwide.

Rev. Jackson is a family man, a moral inspiration to youth and an inspiring leader to all who love freedom, democracy and “equal justice under law” and building family and community.

He is often found sitting in the 4th booth on the left of the service counter at Ben’s Chili Bowl enjoying a meal and mingling with Ben’s customers and friends of the family.

Happy birthday Rev. Jackson. We love you!

 -Ben’s Chili Bowl Family and Friends