Santita Jackson (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer and political commentator from
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. As a singer, Jackson toured with
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...
and performed the National Anthem at President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
's second inauguration. She has appeared on the
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and is the host of a television show on
The Word Network
The Word Network, also known as The Word, is a religious broadcasting network. The Word is the largest African-American religious network in the world. It was founded in February 2000 by Kevin Adell who also owns WFDF, a local urban-talk radio st ...
.
Santita attended high school with
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
and served as Obama's maid of honor at her 1992 wedding to
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
.
Early life and education
Jackson was born in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
, in 1963. She is the oldest daughter of
Jacqueline Lavinia Brown Jackson and civil rights leader Rev.
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
. Jackson was raised in Chicago along with her siblings
Jesse Jr.,
Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline.
Jackson attended John J. Pershing Elementary School and
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, where she was a
National Merit Scholar
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
. While interviewing for admission to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, Jackson was criticized by two alumni for her father's political views. Though ultimately accepted to Harvard, she said of the school, "I didn't feel it was the proper environment after that interview."
Jackson subsequently attended
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
on a full merit scholarship. While at Howard University, Jackson became a member of
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...
sorority. Following her time at Howard, Jackson worked as an aide to Illinois congressman
Gus Savage
Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage (October 30, 1925 – October 31, 2015) was an American entrepreneur, publisher and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois.
Life and career
Savage was born in Detroit, M ...
.
Musical career
Shortly after college, Jackson moved to New York to pursue a career in music.
She spent over five years touring as a backup singer for
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...
, and later performed with the
Opera Ebony
Opera Ebony is an African-American opera company that has performed in a wide variety of programs and venues, ranging from Mozart in Harlem to African-American Heritage concerts in Iceland to Gershwin in Moscow to Duke Ellington in the Caribbean. ...
company.
In 1996, Jackson was asked by the family of Secretary of Commerce
Ron Brown
Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President of the United States, President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairm ...
to perform at his funeral alongside
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...
and the Howard University Chorale. The following year, Jackson performed the National Anthem at Bill Clinton's second presidential inauguration.
In 2009, Jackson released her first recording project, ''Put Your Arms Around the World'', a collaboration with songwriter
Janice Kapp Perry
Janice Kapp Perry (born October 1, 1938) is an American composer, songwriter, and author. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), she has written over 3,000 songs, some of which appeared in the church's offi ...
, vocalist
Chris Willis
Christopher Kevin Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Although initially a gospel singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with house music artist David Guetta ...
, and Utah Senator
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...
.
Political commentary
Television and radio
In April 2012, Jackson began working as a political commentator on the Fox News Channel.
She also hosts her own television show on The Word Network. Earlier, Jackson produced her father's show "Upfront with Jesse Jackson" on The Word Network.
Jackson is the writer, co-host, and executive producer of the nationally syndicated radio show "Keep Hope Alive with Rev. Jesse Jackson."
She previously hosted ''The Santita Jackson Show'' on Chicago's
WVON
WVON (1690 AM "The Voice of the Nation", originally "Voice of the Negro") is a radio station serving the Chicago market, which airs an African-American-oriented talk format. WVON is owned by Midway Broadcasting Corporation, and broadcasts at 169 ...
1690 AM.
Other media
Jackson is a founding contributor at
The Grio
TheGrio, styled as thegrio, is an American television network and website with news, opinion, entertainment and video content geared toward Black Americans.
The website originally launched in June 2009 as a division of NBC News, it became a di ...
, an
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
website dedicated to African American news and opinion.
References
External links
Personal Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Santita
1963 births
Living people
Santita
Musicians from Greensboro, North Carolina
Howard University alumni
MSNBC people
20th-century African-American women singers
American political commentators
Date of birth missing (living people)