CNN's Abby Phillip: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power

At the age of 83, Jesse Jackson has a long career behind him as one of the most influential Black activists of the past century. As a civil rights leader, activist, shadow senator, presidential candidate, and ordained Baptist minister, he has been at the center of the public eye and a thorn in his opponents’ sides. Now CNN anchor and author Abby Phillip comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to share the story of Jackson, focusing on his presidential campaigns of 1984 and 1988. In both campaigns, he was initially viewed as a fringe candidate yet went on to surprisingly strong finishes—third place in 1984 and runner-up to nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988.

How did he do it? How did he build a coalition that appealed to urban working-class people, college students, and Southern Blacks? That coalition would go on to become a core part of many Democratic presidential campaigns in the decades following the 1980s. Drawing on his time working with Martin Luther King, Jr., his organization of the SLCC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago and elsewhere, and his deep southern roots, Jackson mounted campaigns that gave hope to many people who had been overlooked by the major parties.

Phillip photo by Iris Mannings Photography; courtesy the speaker; Bell photo courtesy the speaker, wkamaubell.com.

November 14, 2025

Speakers

Abby Phillip
CNN Anchor; Author, A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power

In Conversation with W. Kamau Bell
Emmy & Peabody Award-winning TV Host, Filmmaker, Comedian, and Author

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.