U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will speak at Elon Law's Martin Luther King, Jr. Forum on Jan. 12
U.S. Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-Illinois), who began service in the United States House of Representatives in 1995, will deliver the keynote address at Elon University School of Law’s fourth-annual Martin Luther King, Jr. forum on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the law library.
Event Details
The forum is free and open to the public and is sponsored in part by the Law School Admission Council as part of Discoverlaw.org Month.
The School of Law has invited high school and undergraduate students interested in the study of law to attend this event. By providing this opportunity to explore current legal issues, the School of Law seeks to foster interest in the pursuit of a legal education as well as an appreciation for opportunities available for groups currently underrepresented within the legal profession.
U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.
Born in the midst of the voting rights struggle on March 11, 1965, Representative Jackson marched weekly in front of the South African Consulate in Chicago and spent his twenty-first birthday in a Washington D.C. jail cell for taking part in a protest against apartheid at the South African Embassy. When Nelson Mandela delivered his historic speech following a 27-year imprisonment in Cape Town, South Africa, Representative Jackson was at his side.
Prior to his congressional service, Representative Jackson instituted a national non-partisan program, the National Rainbow Coalition, which successfully registered millions of new voters. He also created a voter education program to teach citizens the importance of participating in the political process.
Since being elected to the House of Representatives in 1995, Representative Jackson has created the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities and has secured funding for the Institute of Medicine’s research on racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.
Representative Jackson currently sits on the House Appropriations Committee, serving on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; the Vice-Chair, of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and is a member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies.
After graduating with honors from North Carolina A&T State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, Representative Jackson earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois College Of Law.