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Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson
n this new paperback edition, a reporter with more than two decades of experience claims Jesse Jackson has defrauded the federal government, details his shocking private life, and claims Jackson has lied about his relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
501 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2002
9 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth R. Timmerman
21 books21 followersMy first Middle East reporting trip took me to Beirut in July 1982, and I've been going back ever since. I've lived in Egypt and Lebanon, have worked with freedom fighters in Iran and Iraq, and been held hostage by Muslim terrorists in a war zone. You can read an illustrated bio here or download a 1-page author's bio here.
My latest book, And the Rest is History, is a real life adventure story of how I became a hostage, an arms dealer, and an Israeli spy. Dennis Prager called it "a relentlessly interesting book." In my day job, I help victims of terrorism fight the state-sponsors who murdered their loved ones.
I was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize by the former deputy prime minister of Sweden, Per Ahlmark, for my work in exposing Iran's nuclear weapons program.
My latest book, And the Rest is History, is a real life adventure story of how I became a hostage, an arms dealer, and an Israeli spy. Dennis Prager called it "a relentlessly interesting book." In my day job, I help victims of terrorism fight the state-sponsors who murdered their loved ones.
I was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize by the former deputy prime minister of Sweden, Per Ahlmark, for my work in exposing Iran's nuclear weapons program.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 17, 2024
A STRONG CRITIQUE OF JESSE JACKSON AND HIS WORDS AND ACTIONS
Author Kenneth R. Timmerman wrote in the Introduction to this 2006 book, “[This book] is the first investigative portrait of the Reverend Jesse Jackson since black reporter Barbara Reynolds’s explosive biography was published in 1975. Based on interviews with Jackson friends and foes, federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials, and on newly released government documents, [this book] examines how Jackson has manipulated the truth to build a false portrait of himself from the moment he burst on the national scene. Over the years, he has graduated from street hustling, to prematurely adopting the title ‘Reverend’… But through it all he has used the same basic techniques… of intimidation, coercion, and protection. In so doing he has enriched his family, steered billions of dollars of business to his friends, and launched a political dynasty…
“[T]here is much about him that has remained a mystery. One of the most troubling questions is how Jackson, often flaunting the law, has managed to escape even the threat of prosecution… For there is a dark side to Jesse Jackson, and it has gone unreported from the very start. It began in Chicago in the late 1960s, when Jackson began consorting with a street gang known as the Black P Stone Rangers, whose leaders one by one were thrown in jail with life sentences for murder, extortion, and racketeering. Among them was Jackson’s own half brother and early partner in the shakedown game Noah Robinson Jr.” (Pg. viii-ix)
He continues, “Jackson’s stint as ‘presidential special envoy’ to Africa during Bill Clinton’s second term is without a doubt the least reported disgrace of the Clinton years. Not only did Jackson broker a disastrous peace agreement for Sierra Leone that brought a serial murderer into government, he helped block an international accord cracking down on the trafficking of ‘war diamonds’ which were fueling the conflict. But clearly the event that precipitated Jackson’s fall from grace was the revelation in January 2001 that he had sired an illegitimate child with a former aide… A sexual scandal is an embarrassment, and the misuse of tax-exempt funds is illegal, but there are far more serious charges… which reveal the depth of his fundamental hypocrisy… If Jesse Jackson wants our respect, he deserves our scrutiny. It is my hope that Americans… can now better evaluate his claims to have advanced the cause of racial healing.” (Pg. ix-x)
In the first chapter, he states, “Just twelve hours after an assassin murdered … Martin Luther King Jr… [Jackson] announced on the NBC Today Show that King had ‘died in my arms.’ He had cradled King’s head and was ‘the last person on earth’ to whom King had spoken. As proof, he appeared on TV wearing an olive-brown turtleneck sweater that he claimed bore the stains of Dr. King’s blood… His powerful story made for riveting television… The only problem with Jackson’s cathartic tale: it is false. Jackson got away with the lie for nearly a decade, and repeated it at every opportunity… It wasn’t until 1975 that a black reporter … tracked down other members of Dr. King’s entourage and published their account of what actually happened… the Reverend Ralph D. Abernathy, said, ‘I am sure Reverend Jackson would not say to ME that he cradled Dr. King. I am sure [he] would realize that I was the person who was on the balcony with Dr. King and did not leave his side until he was pronounced dead…. I am sure that he would not say to ME that he even came near Dr. King after Doc was short.” (Pg. 5-7)
He notes, “The Reverend [Leon] Sullivan had already demonstrated in Philadelphia that black consumer boycotts could be a success. By 1962, he had built a patronage network within the black community… He also demonstrated that boycotts could be personally lucrative… But until Jackson ramped up Operation Breadbasket in Chicago four years later, no one had tried to expand these efforts to other parts of the nation or to use consumer boycotts to help black businesses grow. That was Jackson’s innovation, and it was ingenious.” (Pg. 23) He adds, “Jackson’s ‘boycotts for business’ approach generated controversy within the civil rights movement itself. The Reverend Hiram Crawford… grew disenchanted with Jackson and accused him of cutting a secret deal with the businessmen behind the back of the black pastors.” (Pg. 26)
He recounts, “Jackson unveiled his SCLS resignation letter at an emotional press conference… ‘I need air. I need to grow,’ he said, vowing to begin his own organization… Furious at Jackson’s tactics, Abernathy issued a scathing rebuke in the name of the SCLS board. ‘We will not accept the resignation of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson until he gives an accounting of hundreds of thousands of dollars and explains the operation of Black Expo.’” (Pg. 43)
He states, “Jackson worked hard for Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976… Within months, Jackson saw friendly faces scattered throughout the new administration, and he began to dream a new scheme: Operation PUSH would transform itself into a service provider and cash in on government welfare programs directly… It was so simple that it was brilliant. Overnight, Jackson would turn PUSH debts into centers of profit and double the size of his organization.” (Pg. 68)
About the 1994-1996 race discrimination lawsuit against Texaco leaders who were tape-recorded uttering offensive statements, “The only problem for Jackson, Mfume, and Sharpton was the tapes: they were so poorly recorded as to be virtually inaudible… [Texaco] did not… agree to payments to Jackson, Mfume, Sharpton, or any of the race brokers… When the company did finally announce it was making a $50,000 grant to benefit minority students, it went to a New York foundation called ‘A Better Chance’… It was a stick in Jesse’s eye and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.” (Pg. 276-278)
He continues, “After Texaco, Viacom was next on Jesse’s hit list… Rainbow/PUSH lodged a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission that effectively blocked the sale of [some] radio stations, on the grounds that Viacom was violating a pledge made in 1994 to divest itself of at least one Fm and one AM station in the Washington, D.C. market to minorities… FCC chairman Willilam Kennard met with Jackson repeatedly, and was sympathetic to his ‘thesis’ that media giants should be required to sell a portion of their stations to minority owners.. The FCC cast the agreement hammered out behind closed doors between Jackson and [Viacom] as a ‘settlement,’ leaving unexplained what right Jesse Jackson had to insert himself in a commercial transaction between outside parties. Once [Viacom] agree to play ball, Jackson would withdraw his complaint, and Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition suddenly began praising [Viacom] … for helping minorities. The FCC has ‘greenmail’ regulations barring precisely this type of shakedown. Without them… the broadcasters would get in the habit of simply buying off their opponents.” (Pg. 280-281)
He summarizes, “In 1999… everything came together for Jesse Jackson. Fame, fortune, contacts, ability; all combined to generate a wealth of opportunities which he successfully exploited, making himself, his organizations, and selected friends breathtakingly rich… Jackson owes this visible financial success in great part to Bill Clinton… This gave Jackson tremendous leverage. He exploited this in corporate boardrooms across America… He used the pretext of racial grievances to solicit contributions for his organizations, win contract for his friends, and primetime television appearances for himself.” (Pg. 321-322)
He asserts, “Jackson’s attitude toward his personal behavior mirrored his public disregard for the truth…Jackson’s sexual escapades had been widely rumored for years. The wonder was not that Jackson finally got caught, but why it took so long.” (Pg. 388-389)
After 9/11, he states, “Jackson had no… words of condemnation for the terrorists, nor did he have words of mourning, words of comfort, or words of love to offer his audience. He displayed little emotion or care for the victims. Rather, he poured fire and brimstone on America’s leaders for their arrogance in a typical, blame-America-first tirade.” (Pg. 414)
He concludes, “until the corporations cut off funding, Jackson will continue to shake down businesses and victimize black Americans. As the Reverend Jackson should know, the Gospel says that the truth will set us free. Black Americans deserve to be freed from the shakedown artists who plunder in their name. And all it really takes is the courage to speak the truth to shakedown power.” (Pg. 422)
Timmerman always places the worst possible interpretation on Jackson’s words and actions, and his unvarying critiques of Jackson (as opposed to his blanket endorsement of such figures as Jesse Lee Peterson) certainly mark this book as far from “unbiased”; but those wanting a strong and trenchant critique of Jackson will find this book highly interesting.
Author Kenneth R. Timmerman wrote in the Introduction to this 2006 book, “[This book] is the first investigative portrait of the Reverend Jesse Jackson since black reporter Barbara Reynolds’s explosive biography was published in 1975. Based on interviews with Jackson friends and foes, federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials, and on newly released government documents, [this book] examines how Jackson has manipulated the truth to build a false portrait of himself from the moment he burst on the national scene. Over the years, he has graduated from street hustling, to prematurely adopting the title ‘Reverend’… But through it all he has used the same basic techniques… of intimidation, coercion, and protection. In so doing he has enriched his family, steered billions of dollars of business to his friends, and launched a political dynasty…
“[T]here is much about him that has remained a mystery. One of the most troubling questions is how Jackson, often flaunting the law, has managed to escape even the threat of prosecution… For there is a dark side to Jesse Jackson, and it has gone unreported from the very start. It began in Chicago in the late 1960s, when Jackson began consorting with a street gang known as the Black P Stone Rangers, whose leaders one by one were thrown in jail with life sentences for murder, extortion, and racketeering. Among them was Jackson’s own half brother and early partner in the shakedown game Noah Robinson Jr.” (Pg. viii-ix)
He continues, “Jackson’s stint as ‘presidential special envoy’ to Africa during Bill Clinton’s second term is without a doubt the least reported disgrace of the Clinton years. Not only did Jackson broker a disastrous peace agreement for Sierra Leone that brought a serial murderer into government, he helped block an international accord cracking down on the trafficking of ‘war diamonds’ which were fueling the conflict. But clearly the event that precipitated Jackson’s fall from grace was the revelation in January 2001 that he had sired an illegitimate child with a former aide… A sexual scandal is an embarrassment, and the misuse of tax-exempt funds is illegal, but there are far more serious charges… which reveal the depth of his fundamental hypocrisy… If Jesse Jackson wants our respect, he deserves our scrutiny. It is my hope that Americans… can now better evaluate his claims to have advanced the cause of racial healing.” (Pg. ix-x)
In the first chapter, he states, “Just twelve hours after an assassin murdered … Martin Luther King Jr… [Jackson] announced on the NBC Today Show that King had ‘died in my arms.’ He had cradled King’s head and was ‘the last person on earth’ to whom King had spoken. As proof, he appeared on TV wearing an olive-brown turtleneck sweater that he claimed bore the stains of Dr. King’s blood… His powerful story made for riveting television… The only problem with Jackson’s cathartic tale: it is false. Jackson got away with the lie for nearly a decade, and repeated it at every opportunity… It wasn’t until 1975 that a black reporter … tracked down other members of Dr. King’s entourage and published their account of what actually happened… the Reverend Ralph D. Abernathy, said, ‘I am sure Reverend Jackson would not say to ME that he cradled Dr. King. I am sure [he] would realize that I was the person who was on the balcony with Dr. King and did not leave his side until he was pronounced dead…. I am sure that he would not say to ME that he even came near Dr. King after Doc was short.” (Pg. 5-7)
He notes, “The Reverend [Leon] Sullivan had already demonstrated in Philadelphia that black consumer boycotts could be a success. By 1962, he had built a patronage network within the black community… He also demonstrated that boycotts could be personally lucrative… But until Jackson ramped up Operation Breadbasket in Chicago four years later, no one had tried to expand these efforts to other parts of the nation or to use consumer boycotts to help black businesses grow. That was Jackson’s innovation, and it was ingenious.” (Pg. 23) He adds, “Jackson’s ‘boycotts for business’ approach generated controversy within the civil rights movement itself. The Reverend Hiram Crawford… grew disenchanted with Jackson and accused him of cutting a secret deal with the businessmen behind the back of the black pastors.” (Pg. 26)
He recounts, “Jackson unveiled his SCLS resignation letter at an emotional press conference… ‘I need air. I need to grow,’ he said, vowing to begin his own organization… Furious at Jackson’s tactics, Abernathy issued a scathing rebuke in the name of the SCLS board. ‘We will not accept the resignation of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson until he gives an accounting of hundreds of thousands of dollars and explains the operation of Black Expo.’” (Pg. 43)
He states, “Jackson worked hard for Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976… Within months, Jackson saw friendly faces scattered throughout the new administration, and he began to dream a new scheme: Operation PUSH would transform itself into a service provider and cash in on government welfare programs directly… It was so simple that it was brilliant. Overnight, Jackson would turn PUSH debts into centers of profit and double the size of his organization.” (Pg. 68)
About the 1994-1996 race discrimination lawsuit against Texaco leaders who were tape-recorded uttering offensive statements, “The only problem for Jackson, Mfume, and Sharpton was the tapes: they were so poorly recorded as to be virtually inaudible… [Texaco] did not… agree to payments to Jackson, Mfume, Sharpton, or any of the race brokers… When the company did finally announce it was making a $50,000 grant to benefit minority students, it went to a New York foundation called ‘A Better Chance’… It was a stick in Jesse’s eye and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.” (Pg. 276-278)
He continues, “After Texaco, Viacom was next on Jesse’s hit list… Rainbow/PUSH lodged a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission that effectively blocked the sale of [some] radio stations, on the grounds that Viacom was violating a pledge made in 1994 to divest itself of at least one Fm and one AM station in the Washington, D.C. market to minorities… FCC chairman Willilam Kennard met with Jackson repeatedly, and was sympathetic to his ‘thesis’ that media giants should be required to sell a portion of their stations to minority owners.. The FCC cast the agreement hammered out behind closed doors between Jackson and [Viacom] as a ‘settlement,’ leaving unexplained what right Jesse Jackson had to insert himself in a commercial transaction between outside parties. Once [Viacom] agree to play ball, Jackson would withdraw his complaint, and Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition suddenly began praising [Viacom] … for helping minorities. The FCC has ‘greenmail’ regulations barring precisely this type of shakedown. Without them… the broadcasters would get in the habit of simply buying off their opponents.” (Pg. 280-281)
He summarizes, “In 1999… everything came together for Jesse Jackson. Fame, fortune, contacts, ability; all combined to generate a wealth of opportunities which he successfully exploited, making himself, his organizations, and selected friends breathtakingly rich… Jackson owes this visible financial success in great part to Bill Clinton… This gave Jackson tremendous leverage. He exploited this in corporate boardrooms across America… He used the pretext of racial grievances to solicit contributions for his organizations, win contract for his friends, and primetime television appearances for himself.” (Pg. 321-322)
He asserts, “Jackson’s attitude toward his personal behavior mirrored his public disregard for the truth…Jackson’s sexual escapades had been widely rumored for years. The wonder was not that Jackson finally got caught, but why it took so long.” (Pg. 388-389)
After 9/11, he states, “Jackson had no… words of condemnation for the terrorists, nor did he have words of mourning, words of comfort, or words of love to offer his audience. He displayed little emotion or care for the victims. Rather, he poured fire and brimstone on America’s leaders for their arrogance in a typical, blame-America-first tirade.” (Pg. 414)
He concludes, “until the corporations cut off funding, Jackson will continue to shake down businesses and victimize black Americans. As the Reverend Jackson should know, the Gospel says that the truth will set us free. Black Americans deserve to be freed from the shakedown artists who plunder in their name. And all it really takes is the courage to speak the truth to shakedown power.” (Pg. 422)
Timmerman always places the worst possible interpretation on Jackson’s words and actions, and his unvarying critiques of Jackson (as opposed to his blanket endorsement of such figures as Jesse Lee Peterson) certainly mark this book as far from “unbiased”; but those wanting a strong and trenchant critique of Jackson will find this book highly interesting.
October 14, 2012
This is a popular study which is meant to trash its subject. Mr. Jackson to thinkers who are serious and not superficial about Black Power, Pan Africanism, and critiques of capitalism and empire is not an impressive person (and never was). Nevertheless, one is torn when examining this study by Timmerman. Timmerman is a neo-conservative and Zionist with axes to grind. He has marshaled not any special archival evidence but secondary sources, from scholarly studies of Jackson to newspaper articles over many years. It is remarkable how surveying the basic articles about Jackson in the most mainstream of sources reveal him to be consistently a slimy and unprincipled figure.
His business dealings, as Jackson would be the first to point out and often does like a buzzard, are nothing unethical in the context of American politics and capitalist political economy. Timmerman implies Jackson betrays the rhetoric of Dr. King's Dream -- which is total nonsense, when one considers "the dream" was never anything more than a call for equal opportunity to enter the rules of hierarchy. Scholars persist in inventing a King who was a consistent socialist, opponent of war and defender of labor. King was no more consistent than Mr. Jackson. Mr Jackson is no more consistent than the wretched Democratic Party of which he is a functionary. Still Mr. Timmerman it is clear sides with the Republicans. So what of lasting value can be found in a mediocre subject pursued by a mediocre author?
Understanding what Timmerman terms Jackson's "shakedown" of multi-national corporations -- that is Jackson's common path of conflating race and class struggles and selling out Black labor revolt to advance diversity under corporate hierarchy and business opportunities for his rich and famous friends -- reveals something not unique or of episodic in value. Yet, one can begin to understand the patronage that stands behind electoral politics and why struggles against institutional racism (disproportionate police brutality, incarceration, poverty) never get traction since around 1972.
It is as a result not of Mr. Jackson as an individual but a corporate civil rights model common to the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, etc. Mr. Timmerman will not make Democratic Party voters switch allegiances. His attacks on Jackson's inconsistent foreign relations or approach to educational opportunity will not cause the outrage he is looking for except among white racists who care little for ethical approaches to either.
But for the anti-racist class struggle thinker who is opposed to the empire of capital and the subordination of people of color all over the world, this book provides deceivingly valuable information about what is wrong with Civil Rights officialdom as a whole. Just don't get distracted by the attitude of the author and follow the footnotes.
His business dealings, as Jackson would be the first to point out and often does like a buzzard, are nothing unethical in the context of American politics and capitalist political economy. Timmerman implies Jackson betrays the rhetoric of Dr. King's Dream -- which is total nonsense, when one considers "the dream" was never anything more than a call for equal opportunity to enter the rules of hierarchy. Scholars persist in inventing a King who was a consistent socialist, opponent of war and defender of labor. King was no more consistent than Mr. Jackson. Mr Jackson is no more consistent than the wretched Democratic Party of which he is a functionary. Still Mr. Timmerman it is clear sides with the Republicans. So what of lasting value can be found in a mediocre subject pursued by a mediocre author?
Understanding what Timmerman terms Jackson's "shakedown" of multi-national corporations -- that is Jackson's common path of conflating race and class struggles and selling out Black labor revolt to advance diversity under corporate hierarchy and business opportunities for his rich and famous friends -- reveals something not unique or of episodic in value. Yet, one can begin to understand the patronage that stands behind electoral politics and why struggles against institutional racism (disproportionate police brutality, incarceration, poverty) never get traction since around 1972.
It is as a result not of Mr. Jackson as an individual but a corporate civil rights model common to the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, etc. Mr. Timmerman will not make Democratic Party voters switch allegiances. His attacks on Jackson's inconsistent foreign relations or approach to educational opportunity will not cause the outrage he is looking for except among white racists who care little for ethical approaches to either.
But for the anti-racist class struggle thinker who is opposed to the empire of capital and the subordination of people of color all over the world, this book provides deceivingly valuable information about what is wrong with Civil Rights officialdom as a whole. Just don't get distracted by the attitude of the author and follow the footnotes.
January 24, 2011
Bio of "the Reverend" (apparently that title was phony for most of his public career, as he had actually dropped out of seminary) Jesse Jackson, focusing briefly on personal infidelity, a good deal on the criminal behavior of his half-brother, and mostly on his exaggerations, false claims (MLK died in my arms etc.), anti-Semitism, and (especially) extortion of money from US corporations in the name of diversity initiatives that mainly lined the pockets of Jackson and his wealthy friends, friends who in turn would donate to PUSH-Excel and other commingled Jackson non-profits.
If you have a somewhat cynical view of politicians, there's some interest value in reading the bill of particulars documenting phoniness, but a couple of drawbacks of this book for me were:
--numbingly repetitive. I guess it's the nature of the story itself, but after a while I couldn't read one more chapter or section following the same basic script (1. identify rumor, controversy, actual problem involving minority employee, or even just a big-money merger coming up that would make corporation wish to avoid bad publicity. 2. threaten corporation with consumer boycott and bad press unless they meet demands. 3. demand set-asides, subcontracts, etc. for minority-led businesses, culled from a list of those fronted by Jesse Jackson colleagues. 4. settle up and collect the bribes. 5. publicly praise corporation and move on to next victim).
--never really analyzed why any of this worked, beyond saying CEO's lacked the guts to stand up to it, with a few exception. Rev. Jackson is a skilled politician and excellent speaker, so he did have some influence back in the day. And there is enough employment discrimination that businesses are reluctant to open the books. Without any of this context, the book reads as though just anybody could implement the same strategy. Somehow I don't think if I went to Pepsi or Wal-Mart and threatened to expose them as anti-Irish-American, I'd get quite as much response.
If you have a somewhat cynical view of politicians, there's some interest value in reading the bill of particulars documenting phoniness, but a couple of drawbacks of this book for me were:
--numbingly repetitive. I guess it's the nature of the story itself, but after a while I couldn't read one more chapter or section following the same basic script (1. identify rumor, controversy, actual problem involving minority employee, or even just a big-money merger coming up that would make corporation wish to avoid bad publicity. 2. threaten corporation with consumer boycott and bad press unless they meet demands. 3. demand set-asides, subcontracts, etc. for minority-led businesses, culled from a list of those fronted by Jesse Jackson colleagues. 4. settle up and collect the bribes. 5. publicly praise corporation and move on to next victim).
--never really analyzed why any of this worked, beyond saying CEO's lacked the guts to stand up to it, with a few exception. Rev. Jackson is a skilled politician and excellent speaker, so he did have some influence back in the day. And there is enough employment discrimination that businesses are reluctant to open the books. Without any of this context, the book reads as though just anybody could implement the same strategy. Somehow I don't think if I went to Pepsi or Wal-Mart and threatened to expose them as anti-Irish-American, I'd get quite as much response.
January 31, 2008
The date says 2007, but I read this at least five years ago. I have never had any respect for race-baiting bigot profiteers. It was always just this feeling that they were trading on charges of racism to fill their own coffers. Timmerman's book illustrates why I was right to feel that way....because they are! And Jackson is probably the worst of the bunch.
May 15, 2015
Yes this is one persons view of Jesse Jackson, but its hard to look over the facts of his organizations.
If you are not open minded to views outside of the main stream media, this is not the book for you.
If you are not open minded to views outside of the main stream media, this is not the book for you.
July 31, 2008
Interesting, but not shocking.
September 19, 2008
Jesse Jackson is a fool, but has comedic value. I had no idea. Media made him out to be a good guy. Now I understand Eddie Murphy SNL Hymie Town joke! LOL!!
December 17, 2013
What a fraudulent self serving bastard.
February 22, 2009
A documented insight to one of todays infamous "heros" and the lies that he promotes.
March 6, 2015
Well researched, this book paints the "Reverend" as a greedy, racist, opportunistic anti Semite.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews