Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com
- On July 19, 1988 — 20 years ago Saturday — the Rev. Jesse Jackson fired up the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta’s Omni Coliseum with a keynote address that challenged America to live up to its promise.
“We meet tonight at the crossroads, a point of decision. Shall we expand, be inclusive, find unity and power; or suffer division and impotence?” Jackson asked.
“We’ve come to Atlanta, the cradle of the Old South, the crucible of the New South. Tonight, there is a sense of celebration, because we are moved, fundamentally moved from racial battlegrounds by law, to economic common ground. Tomorrow we’ll challenge to move to higher ground.”
With his message of hope, unity, inclusiveness and an eye toward the country’s standing on the international stage, Sen. Barack Obama, who is the presumptive 2008 Democratic nominee for president, got to that point with a message closely parallel to Jackson’s in 1988.
