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HBCU 101: Vote Jesse Vote!, the voting rights legacy of Rev. Jesse Jackson

FILE - Jesse Jackson, with his wife Jacqueline, concedes defeat in the Illinois Democratic primary on March 16, 1988, in Chicago.
Lisa Genesen
/
AP
FILE - Jesse Jackson, with his wife Jacqueline, concedes defeat in the Illinois Democratic primary on March 16, 1988, in Chicago.

0:01:00

HBCU 101: Vote Jesse Vote!

Student activism is on the rise at North Carolina A&T State University where students like Olu Rouse and Shia Rozier are fighting for voting rights — just like the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was student body president at NC A&T.

Olu Rouse and Shia Rozier, students at North Carolina A&T State University


0:13:00

The voting rights legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson

Today, we look back at the life and voting rights impact of Reverend Jesse Jackson, who passed away last month. Bishop William J. Barber II was Rev. Jackson’s friend and confidant. He shares his memories of Jackson and explains Jackson’s unique ability to reach and unite voters across the “rainbow.”

Bishop William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach, Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign

Courtesy of Repairers of the Breach

0:33:00

‘We (The People of The United States)’

As the United States turns 250 years old, a new book of poetry pays tribute to Black historical figures across the country and the centuries. Poet and professor Joshua Bennett talks with Due South’s Leoneda Inge about his poem “Chapel Hill, North Carolina” for George Moses Horton, the first African American man to publish a book in the South.

Joshua Bennett, Professor of Literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT and writer of the new poetry collection "We (The People of The United States)"

Joshua Bennett author image and book cover
Rog Walker (photo credit for author image)

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.