Fight for Equality: Jesse JacksonJesse Jackson was born in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina. Born to Helen Burns, an unwed teenage mother, who was her same daughter of an unmarried teenage mother; Jackson's childhood was marked by feelings of isolation and difference. He was teased for not having a father by his classmates and neighbors. His married biological father, Noah Robinson, was one of Greenville's wealthiest black citizens, while Jackson, along with his mother and grandmother, lived in relative poverty. His mother and grandmother were very supportive. Jackson took the name of his stepfather, Charles H. Jackson, a postal worker, after being adopted by him in 1957. Jesse became a promising athlete and scholar during his high school years. Despite the material and emotional deprivations of Jackson's early life, one of his friends told biographer Marshall Frady, "Not only does Jesse believe in God, but Jesse believes that God believes in him." Maybe that's what made him keep his head high. Jesse Jackson was born in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated from Sterling High School and received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. Shortly after going there, he transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro and became active in sit-ins with other college students. A sit-in is when a group of people of color sit down in a whites-only restaurant or business, to protest their inability to eat or shop there. At that time it was very common in the South for blacks to be kept out of many businesses such as white-run restaurants. 1965 was a very important year for Jesse Jackson. He met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the famous Selma March, an attempt to register black voters. He was named leader of the Chicago branch of Operation Breadbasket, founded by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1962. Operation Breadbasket was a civil rights group that sought to gain greater job opportunities for blacks. He was very successful in leading that program, boycotting businesses that discriminated against blacks, and forcing businesses to hire black workers. He was with Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee when Dr. King was assassinated three years later. In 1979, Jackson, like Dr. King before him, became interested in civil rights struggles around the world. He has traveled to Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. He met with Egyptian President Answar Sadat, Syrian President Hafez al Assad and Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat.