News to Wright Enterprises Community Spotlight courtesy of Riki Rafner, Public Relations Director Commonwealth Club
Media Advisory from
The Commonwealth Club
the nation’s premier public affairs forum
SPEAKERS: Reverend Jesse Jackson- Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Judge LaDoris H. Cordell (Ret.)-Former Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose
TITLE: Reverend Jesse Jackson: A Conversation about the Promise of America
DATE: Thursday, November 29, 2018
TIME: 5:30 p.m. Check In; 6:30 p.m. Program.
PLACE: Marines’ Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter Street, San Francisco
PRICE: $25 Members, $35 Non-Members; Premium (Includes priority seating) $45 Members, $55 Non-Members;
$10 Students (with valid ID) Prices subject to change. To buy tickets call (415) 597-6705 or register at
CONTACT: Riki Rafner, Public Relations Director, (415) 597-6712
Media outlets interested in attending should please RSVP to rrafner@commonweathclub.org
One of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures Jesse Jackson will share his thoughts on the possibilities on how America can be inclusive. In conversation with retired Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell, Reverend Jackson will detail the country’s potential to find common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender, and belief. He recently campaigned for Democrats Beto O’Rourke who ran for Senate in Texas, Stacey Abrams who ran for governor in Georgia, and for Andrew Gillum who ran for governor in Florida.
As America grapples with polarization and increased threats of violence against social and political leaders, various ethnic groups, and the media, is it still possible for Americans to lessen the heated rhetoric and bridge divides?
Over the years, The Reverend Jackson has made countless appearances on news, public affairs and entertainment programs including “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Tavis Smiley,” “Good Morning America,” Fox News and CNN, to name a few.
For more than 5 decades, from working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to his own two Presidential campaignsand beyond, Reverend Jackson has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 1984, Reverend Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization based in Washington, D.C devoted to political empowerment, education and changing public policy. In 1996, the Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH merged to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to continue the work of both organizations and to maximize resources.
In 1971, Reverend Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity). The goals of Operation PUSH were economic empowerment and expanding educational, business and employment opportunities for the disadvantaged and people of color. In 1965, he became a full-time organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Impressed by Jackson’s drive and organizational skills, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tasked him with directing the Operation Breadbasket program in 1966. Reverend Jackson started in activism as a student in 1960 seeking to desegregate the local public library in Greenville and then as a leader in the sit-in movement.
The Reverend has received numerous honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and other universities. Reverend Jackson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and his Masters of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary.
Judge LaDoris Cordell has practiced law in the predominantly African American and Mexican American community of East Palo Alto, becoming the first lawyer to open a private law practice there.
Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to the Municipal Court of Santa Clara County in 1982, making her the first African American woman judge in all of northern California. In 1988, Judge Cordell overwhelmingly won election to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. She was the first African American Superior Court Judge in the county’s history, and the first African American woman to sit on the Superior Court in northern California.
Cordell earned her B.A. from Antioch College and her J.D. from Stanford Law School and was appointed in 1978 to serve as assistant dean for Student Affairs there. During her four-year tenure at Stanford, Ms. Cordell was responsible for implementing a minority admissions program that made Stanford a leader in enrollment of students of color.