Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chicago mayors, a tense, fraught relationship

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chicago mayors, a tense, fraught relationship

For 60 years, nine mayors have had no choice but to contend with the famed civil rights activist, and sometimes defer to him even though they often didn’t like it. They could not afford to do otherwise.

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chicago mayors — a tense, fraught relationship

The Rev. Jesse Jackson had a complicated, fraught and sometimes contentious relationship with Chicago mayors. For 60 years, nine mayors had no choice but to contend with him and sometimes defer to him — even though they often didn’t like it. They couldn’t afford not to defer to him. He was a forceful presence who knew how to organize economic and political boycotts, work the media to generate headlines and exert maximum political pressure to acc…