PUSH celebrates 25th anniversary; civil rights organization notes gains and announces new Network and agenda

For 25 years, Operation PUSH has been at the forefront of the fight for social change in American society and the economic advancement-of Black people. During this period the organization's founder, the-Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, has established himself as a charismatic leader.

In 1971, when the dashiki-wearing young man with the bushy Afro held his first PUSH meeting, he was best known as a former assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He went on to build PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) into a formidable movement that has spearheaded voter registration drives, petitioned corporations to provide equal opportunities for African-Americans, and has drawn hundreds to its weekly meetings on Chicago's South Side. Rev. Jackson is noted for being an articulate spokesman on numerous public issues that concern African-Americans and other people of color.

During PUSH's recent Sterling Silver Anniversary Convention, which had the theme "Opening New Doors," Rev. Jackson announced the formation of a new organization, the Rainbow PUSH Action Network, to continue the work he started a quarter of a century ago. The Network, the merger of operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition, the political organization Jackson founded to undergird his 1988 presidential campaign, "will remain on the cutting edge," he says.

The PUSH convention was attended by delegates from across the country and scores 0f corporate leaders who expressed support for Jackson and the new organization. The Rainbow PUSH Action Network will remain in the forefront of the fight for economic and social justice for people of color, women and youth, says Rev. Jackson. "The Rainbow PUSH Action Network is going to boycott, negotiate, vote and march our way to a better Chicago, a better Illinois, a better America," he told the celebration crowd.

Over the years, PUSH effectively has used economic boycotts, research, education and negotiation to challenge corporations to continue to open up opportunities for Black Americans. In addition, he emphasizes that PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition have been instrumental in registering millions of voters-and, consequently, have influenced the outcome of presidential, congressional, senate and mayoral elections. The organization's voter-registration drive was instrumental to the election of several major Black politicians. PUSH also has challenged "schemes" such as gerrymandering and annexation used to reduce the impact of the Black vote. He points out that PUSH's basic thrust has been economic opportunity while the focus of the Rainbow Coalition has been political opportunity and equity. The merger of the organizations will be "more efficient and more effective," he says.

The new organization, which has headquarters in Chicago and an office in Washington, D.C., will work to establish stranger alliances with corporations willing to "expand opportunities." In addition to establishing chapters across the U.S., there are also plans for a chapter in Japan. A presence in Japan, China and Indonesia is important to economic advancement for African-Americans, says Rev. Jack on. "We must keep the pressure on for economic justice for people of color," he says. "The Pacific Rim is the area with the most economic growth, and there is a great trade imbalance in the Pacific Rim." There are only a handful of Black-owned foreign import car dealerships, says Rev. Jackson, despite the great number of Black consumers who buy foreign cars. "We are significant traders with the Pacific Rim; we must demand mutual benefits," he adds.

Rev. Jackson began-his grassroots activism as a student leader in the sit-in movement. A native of Greenville, S.C., he attended North Carolina AT&T State University and Chicago Theological Seminary before he joined the Civil Rights Movement full-time in 1965. He became an organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and an assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was among the aides with Dr. King the day the civil rights legend was assassinated in Memphis. Jackson later became director of Operation Breadbasket. PUSH was founded in December 1971 after Jackson and Dr. King's successor, the late Rev. Ralph Abernathy, decided to go their separate ways. "All of this has evolved from unbroken continuity with Dr. King's work" he says.

Rev. Jackson says that what he would like for people to remember about PUSH's first 25 years is that the organization has maintained continuity with "our struggle," changed public policy and kept fighting for the American Dream. "And the American Dream is a big-tent America," he adds, "where everybody fits undergone roof in a multicultural, multiracial country. The dream under the big tent is equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access and fair share."

One of the Network's first missions is to launch a $3 million building-fund drive to transform the PUSH headquarters building into a first-class telecommunications network and state-of-the-art research facility that will utilize the Internet, and to establish world-class television and radio production studios. Among Operation PUSH programs is PUSH For Excellence (PUSH-Excel), which was founded in 1976 to inspire youth to seek knowledge and to realize the importance of education as the foundation for economic and social advancement. The PUSH Commercial Division seeks to foster growth and development of African-American businesses by accessing economic opportunities in both public and private sectors, domestically and internationally. There is also the PUSH Ministers' Division, which is comprised of ministers "who realize the integral connection between righteousness and justice for all."