CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Charleston pastor Matthew Watts took time Tuesday to speak about civil rights activist, politician and ordained Baptist minister Jesse Jackson.
Jackson passed away Tuesday at his home in Chicago.
Watts, pastor of Grace Bible Church, said Jesse Jackson positioned himself as a successor to Martin Luther King Jr. after King was assassinated in 1968.
He said Jackson went on television shortly after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death
“He had some things to say that were somewhat provocative, but he emerged on the national scene, but basically he was jockeying for the throne, for the crown, who was going to be the heir, who the mountain was going to fall toward,” Watts said.
Jackson made several stops in West Virginia over the years.
In 2000, he visited Fairmont while campaigning for Al Gore in his presidential race against George W. Bush.
In 2004, Jackson stopped in Charleston while campaigning for John Kerry. During that visit, he also attended a Labor Day concert and rally with Willie Nelson at Haddad Riverfront Park.
Watts said that Jackson was extremely intelligent.
“He was incredibly intellectually curious, and quick, his mind was incredibly quick, and he could quote data and statistics, and figures, and facts, the things that he could commit to memory,” he said. “He was just an impressive guy, with all of his flaws and faults, he was an extremely impressive person to be around.”
Watts also said that when Jackson took on a leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement, he sought to uplift the confidence of young African Americans with the phrase, “I may be Black, but I am somebody. I may be poor, but I am somebody.”
He said Jackson touched a lot of lives.
“He had a tremendous impact on people because he was talking about be confident, be bold, have a vision, believe that you belong in any room that’s convening,” Watts said.
Jackson was 84 years old when he passed.