Abstract
This paper re-examines the underappreciated economic dimension of Jesse Jackson’s early civil rights career, particularly his keen focus on finance and credit for African Americans, which anticipated the decline of industrial capitalism. While Jackson is widely recognized for his rise within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and his advocacy for black capitalism half a century ago, his profound interest in monetary and financial mechanisms has received little scholarly attention. The analysis centers on Jackson's foundational work in Chicago, tracking the process by which Martin Luther King Jr.'s protégé quickly evolved into a dedicated proponent of black economic empowerment. Crucially, Jackson became a leading voice for a wealth-transfer agenda, setting him apart from most contemporary civil rights and labor leaders who primarily championed the equitable distribution of income. This study challenges the reductive portrayal of the young Jackson as merely an ambitious deal-maker with minimal analytical capacity for the era's economic shifts. Instead, it highlights his remarkably forward-thinking approach. His developing mastery of money and finance enabled him to be one of the few civil rights figures who genuinely understood the dynamics of the emerging post-industrial economy, an insight that fundamentally informed his later pan-Africanist endeavors and broader economic policy advocacy.
Keywords. Black Capitalism; Wealth Transfer; Post-Industrial Economy; Civil Rights Movement; Jesse Jackson.
JEL. B25; G20; J71; N32; P16.
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