Jack Fields: “let me first thank the Speaker for allowing the Congressional Black Caucus to use this first Special Order hour to…”

“let me first thank the Speaker for allowing the Congressional Black Caucus to use this first Special Order hour to commemorate the life and legacy of my mentor, my leader, and my friend, the Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. I was a student with humble beginnings. There were nine siblings. My dad passed when I was 5 years old, so I was raised by a single parent. Given my circumstances, I was a young man caught between hope and expectations. I had hope to do a lot of things, but my expectations were not high. {time} 2010 I first had a chance to hear Reverend Jackson speak in 1978, some 48 years ago. I was a sophomore at McKinley Senior High School. All the kids in East Baton Rouge Parish were shuttled by bus to the Baton Rouge River Center to hear Reverend Jesse Jackson. After listening to Reverend Jackson's ``I Am Somebody'' speech, I connected the reality that I really was somebody. I didn't just have to hope to be, I could expect to be. Reverend Jackson's impact on my life at that time gave me hope and the audacity to believe. I believed that I was somebody. He made me dream beyond my circumstances. He changed what I thought and what was possible, and it was at that time that I came out of my shell. The next year, I became president of the Key Club, and then vice president of my senior class, all because of the ``I Am Somebody'' speech that impacted my life.”