Jacqueline L. Jackson - Loving You, Thinking of You, Dont Forget to Pray: Letters to My Son in Prison

Copyright 2018 by Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. and Jacqueline L. Jackson

Photograph copyright 2018 by Jacqueline L. Jackson

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First Edition

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2018043369

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover photograph: Jacqueline L. Jackson

ISBN: 9781948924320

Ebook ISBN: 9781948924337

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Special Tribute from Congressman Jackson

To the God of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, David,
and Jesus of Nazareth who blessed me with
My Mother
who taught me at an early age to pray, and convinced me
I am never alone. I love you!

In Loving Memory of My Grandmothers:
Gertrude Brown
and
Helen Burns Jackson

To My Father, My Daughter, My Son, and
the 68 Million Men, Women, and Families who have endured
incarceration and the American Journey.

Loving You Always, Thinking of You, Dont Forget to Pray.

CONGRESSMAN JESSE L. JACKSON, JR.

Preface

May 28, 2013

Judge Amy Berman Jackson

US District Court

For the District of Columbia

Dear Judge Amy Berman Jackson,

I am Jacqueline Jackson, the mother of five children, one of whom I am writing about, my son Jesse Jackson, Jr. As my son stood before you in your courtroom, in a state of contrition, I wish to thank you for allowing him the time he needed to gain his composure. Your patience also helped my family to endure an extremely difficult family ordeal.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, as I struggle to compose the words that may help to shape a better understanding of who my son is and to share with you a little about his background, my heart is in a great deal of pain. I am hurting not just for what could be my sons fate. I am hurting not for my family alone. But I feel the weight of millions of mothers and family members who lack the courage, or the opportunity, or the ability, to pen their emotions regarding our justice system. I believe there should be nonviolent solutions and remedies for nonviolent crimes that do not require the violence of totally removing a person from his or her community.

I feel compelled to seize this moment to ask that you consider a new approach for handling nonviolent offenses. This letter is an appeal for not just my son, but for the chance we may have to construct a more enlightened system of justiceone that is more applicable and appropriate for the twenty-first century. If our national goal is to create a more civil society, should not we seek tools and techniques that attempt to develop men and women into productive contributors to society? Could not the goal of a just and civil society most likely be achieved by a restorative justice system that has as its principles compassion and reparative justice? Restorative justice is an approach to justice or fairness that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or just punishing the offenders. Restorative justice is more inclined toward restitution, providing altruistic services within the community affected, and monitoring the behavior of the offender.

Let there be no mistake: all who know me know I subscribe to my mothers law, There is only one way and thats the right way. I believe completely in reward, punishment, mercy, and redemption. But if there is honest contrition and remorse for a nonviolent crime, restorative justice is a system that exhibits compassion. It also offers a greater guarantee for restored behavior than the punishment-based system with its high level of recidivism. I urge you to view this matter and the fate of my son within the larger context of how the United States compares with the global society and how America treats men and women who are found guilty of nonviolent crimes. When I realized that the United States has 4.4 percent of the total world population but, by some estimates, 22 percent of the prisoners of the world, I understood that this stark reality creates the need for new solutions. I feel our justice system would be well served by such an exemplary decision.

Your Honor, Judge Amy Berman Jackson, my husband was granted a Rockefeller Scholarship to attend Chicago Theological Seminary. With a family of almost three in 1964, we arrived at McGifford House on Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago. By the time my son was born, my husband was attending school and organizing the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) and was its first executive director (an unsalaried position). Because of the success of this organization, and based on the recommendation of Rev. James Bevel, my husband was hired to work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for $75. If my memory serves me correctly, that was his weekly salary. To sustain our family, we were given food baskets by our Pastor, Rev. Clay Evans, and his members of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, where my son Jesse Jr. chose later to be baptized. I learned to provide the other necessities by frequenting resale shops, lawn sales, learning to preserve and can foods, and sewing and mending things that did not fit. But most of all, I learned to express my appreciation and gratitude for the kindness of others.

Contrary to the belief of many who only see us as we are today from a televised perspective, Jesse Jr. was not born with a silver spoon nor was he born privileged. Jesse Jr., my second child and my eldest son, was born during the turbulent sixties, the period of terrible hatred for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who followed Dr. King and the principles of nonviolence he espoused. Our son, Rev. Jacksons namesake, inherited his friends and enemies. As a child, Jesse Jr. held jobs waiting tables, cleaning floors, and other odd jobs. Growing up in the shadow of his father, Jesse Jr. has always tried desperately to live up to the expectations we have had for him. I think perhaps he has tried too hard.