I have a picture of Jesse Jackson on the wall of my office. Actually, it’s a mug shot. It was taken in 1999. Jackson, then in his 50s, had just been arrested while protesting the expulsion of Black students from a school in Illinois. His restless eyes look at the camera with the weary expression of someone who has fought for the political rights of marginalized groups for decades. He’s a fighter. He’s a peacemaker. He’s a living legend. Yet he’s also — at least as far as the state is concerned — an accused criminal.
