My son and I are about to embark on our last crusade together. He has been to protests and meetings since he was a child. He addressed Charleston City council at the age of 7, not because he had something to say, but because the zoning issue was so miserably boring that Mayor Joseph Riley was certain it would be more interesting to let Jackson make his first public speech then spend the next five minutes on commercial property setbacks. Jackson's been on the front page of the local daily twice. He ran for Student Council. He won by a landslide and then resigned in protest of the way it was run. There were no votes, resolutions or deliberation. Jackson demanded ideas, commitment, hope and change.
Jackson hates to phone bank. He loves door to door and unsually is my loyal right hand. I've put him through a lot. This September he is off to Evergreen State college in Oregon, a very liberal place. I and my wife of 25 years will soldier on in the deepening horror show of retrograde politics that is South Carolina without our boy. Before we wake up to a quiet house in a deep, red state, there shall be one final charge, one day with the flag in the wind. I intend to make all of it that we can.
Here is our call to his fellow students to join us to help roll out a new bus system for our community, the final contest of four years of advocacy.
Thanks for reading.