Jesse Jackson 2

PRAISE FOR "MOTIVATOR" JACKSON

24-08-2007

The man who brought Jesse Jackson to Birmingham has been telling The Stirrer he's "honoured" to have played host to such an eminent visitor - and says he's a "motivator" with a message for all races.

Maxie Hayles, chair of Birmingham Racial Awareness Monitoring Unit, organised the local leg of Jackson's nine day "Equanomics" tour.

"The man is a teacher, he's a motivator" Maxie enthused.

"He used the line that as black people we should not be grasshoppers, we should stand tall, and be proud of who we are and what we've achieved.

"But that's not just a message for us, it could apply to anyone.

"He's also talking about education and parental responsibility. Take your children to school and wait for them at the end of the day.

"There's so much delinquency because there are so many time constraints on parents. When parents fulfil their role and accept responsibility all the evidence shows that there are fewer problems so everyone benefits".

Birmingham councillor Salma Yaqoob who also shared a platform with Jackson said, "I think it was really exciting that Jesse Jackson came to Birmingham at a time when we are on the verge of becoming an ethnic majority city.

"Obviously his message is about black pride, and there are historical reasons why that's important.

"But we have lots of marginalised people in this city including white working class boys who do as badly at school as black boys.

"We have to harness the collective energy of all those people and create something like the Rainbow Alliance Jesse Jackson helped to bring together in the States of different groups, with their own interests, but all helping each other.

"That's the vision we have to work towards."