Santita Jackson (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer and political commentator from

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. 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

, 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)