Resources for Teachers and Students
Prepare: The Rainbow/Push Coalition is a membership
organization founded by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr.
to work toward social, racial and economic justice. It resulted
as the merger of two organizations, Operation PUSH (People
United to Save Humanity) and The National Rainbow Coalition.
The coalition's website contains a biography
of Jesse Jackson.
Read:
Jesse Jackson wrote an
original essay for the Architects of Peace project.
In it, he proposed principles for strengthening a worldwide
commitment to human rights.
Explore: The oldest civil rights organization in
the United States, the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), works to abolish racial hatred
as well as racial discrimination. The NAACP Department of
Communications maintains a press
center on the internet. This center is a good place
to begin research on current issues relating to racial equality.
Write: In his Architects of Peace essay, Jesse Jackson
maintains that a commitment to human rights requires a preference
for negotiation over military action. He admits, however,
that "there are monsters out there and there will be
occasions when war is both inevitable and just." Is
this true? Write a three-to-five page paper focusing on
the question: at what point is it justifiable for a country
to engage in warfare rather than to work toward maintaining
peace through negotiation? You may wish to research "just
war" theories before beginning your composition.
Extend: Civilrights.org, a civil rights coalition
comprised of over 180 different national organizations such
as the League of Women Voters, the National Congress of
American Indians, the NAACP and the National Council of
Churches, maintains a Student
Activist Network where it is possible to subscribe
to free news bulletins such as Civil Rights Today
and This Week in Civil Rights.
Additional Resource: The National
Black Graduate Student Association, a student-run
organization, works to increase the number of graduate and
professional students of African descent by encouraging
undergraduates to pursue graduate and professional degrees.
Biography of Jesse
Jackson
