At the recent Democratic Party Convention in the United States, delegates roared their approval when civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was brought on stage to wave to delegates.
In the 1980s, Jackson became the first African American to make a serious run for the presidential nomination of the party (though the late Shirley Chisholm was the first to vie for the party’s leadership in 1972).
Many herald Jackson’s strong showing as breaking barriers for African-Americans in politics.
