By Dr. J. Ester Davis
With the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson, are we looking into a re-run of the same obstacles with different dates? Do we need Operation Breadbasket again, which was the subject of a meeting between Jesse Jackson and Dr. Ed Mason at Forest Avenue Hospital in the early days of his youth? JUST think… about the Civil Rights Rollbacks. Let me pick one. Under the new administration’s equity purge, federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are now eliminated.
Just think. How many years, hours, days, and weeks did our civil rights attorneys and community advocates spend on strategy, information, data, and testimonies? How many man-hours, weekends spent by secretaries, paralegals, and childcare workers preparing for meetings and court appearances? One of the biggest showdowns in Dallas that was allowed to linger for years was a dangerous plant in West Dallas that was the acknowledged cause of sick and deformed children. Out of this struggle was born environmental racism. The Office of Environmental Justice addressed hazardous conditions that disproportionately affected black, brown, low income communities. This office was shut down in 2025, removing federal oversight of pollution and hazardous conditions in America’s communities.
I have to mention educational censorship. Multiple states and federal directives want to restrict the teaching of black history and critical race theory, and we are witnessing it happening. Some leaders describe it as an attempt to ‘whitewash” the African American experience.
Men and women during the civil rights era fought for change. It was not given. It was a fight!
It was Jesse Jackson who walked into corporate boardrooms and announced their intentions.
It is very difficult to say goodbye to our devoted Civil Rights Leaders, because we had so few of them. They were indeed priceless golden nuggets among us. Rev. Jackson was a frequent visitor to Dallas, Texas, on ‘Operation Breadbasket’ business, back in the 60’s and 70’s, meeting with Rev. Peter Johnson, the black doctors, black attorneys, business owners, educators, and others… onward to his candidacy for President in the 80’s. I remember being a delegate both times of his historic Presidential Run in 1984 and 1988. “Run-Jesse- Run” was the international chant, but Rev. Jackson’s longest tenure of visits to Texas was his once-a-year October visit to Good Street Baptist Church with the legendary Pastor Dr. C.A.W. Clarke. This relationship spanned more than two decades.
Moving to Dallas in the late 60’s, we lived in South Dallas until the busing issue surfaced in the 70’s. We did not want our sons bused, so we moved to Richardson for ten(20)years. After my youngest son graduated from Richardson ISD, we moved back South to Oak Cliff in what Mrs. Georgia McGowan, McGowan’s Funeral Home, is called “Good Street Territory”. And she was right. My first year in ‘Good Street Territory, ’ we came face-to-face with the “Jesse Jackson Sunday” frenzy. Dr. Yvonne Ewell (1926-1998) is the namesake of Dallas’ Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center on 8th Street in Dallas, Texas,and an outspoken advocate for education. Dr. Ewell had what I called ‘The Untouchables,’ a posse of distinguished, capable black women with grit, starting with Mrs. Barbara Record, of Record’s BBQ. Another famous story for another time.
With the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson, there is now a “time of reflection” looking back at what we fought for back then and what is confronting the nation and black people again, without certain leaders on the frontline. Esterdavis2000@gmail.com
