REV. JESSE JACKSON ENCOURAGES THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO BE ACTIVE IN PARTY POLITICS

In order to incite the powerful Black electorate in the run up to the May 5 th General Election, Reverend Jesse Jackson joined forces with Operation Black Vote (OBV), ( a non-party political campaign) at a free public event.

Reverend Jackson delivered effectively his keynote address entitled " The politics of power" to a thousand strong audience on Wednesday 9 th March at Friends Meeting House. Among the distinguished panel of speakers were representatives from the Black Churches, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faith groups as well as other high profile speakers: Lee Jasper (National Black Alliance), Karen Chouhan (1990 Trust), Peter Herbert (Lawyer) and Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari (Muslim Council of Britain).

During his trip in London, Jesse visited key marginal seats in which OBV's research has identified as where the Black vote can effectively determine who wins and loses the constituency seat. OBV has also identified, as many as 70 constituency seats nationally, in which the Black vote can decide who wins and who loses the next General Election and a further 50 seats in which the Black vote can convincingly impact on the outcome. OBV is in addition registering 100,000 people to vote and producing a Black manifesto for the election.

The OBV Campaigns Manager Ashok Viswanathan, states:

Mr Jackson effectively sent the message loud and clear that in key seats up and down the country, the Black vote can decide who wins and who loses. Only if African, Asian and Caribbean communities are united, can political parties no longer take the Black vote for granted.

The OBV National Co-ordinator Simon Woolly, stated:

Reverend Jackson is a tour de force when it comes to Black political mobilisation. A rallying call now will ensure an unprecedented level of participation by the Black electorate, and will also serve notice on all the political parties that we demand to be listened to. Failure by the parties to heed to this warning will be punished at the ballot box.

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