US CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER JESSE JACKSON HONOURED WITH DEGREE AT DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

From today's Leicester Mercury:

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson honoured with degree at De Montfort University 

Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson received an honorary degree yesterday. 

He was a key speaker at De Montfort University's conference on terrorism and radicalism, organised by the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.  

Mr Jackson said other cities could look to Leicester for tips on multicultural and racial harmony. 

He said: "This is a multicultural city and it shows that when people work alongside each other, together as a team, things can work.  

"Here is Leicester there are many races and many faces from many places."
Mr Jackson marched with Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s and, in 1979, visited South Africa, where he spoke out against apartheid.  

He also won praise for negotiating the release of American soldiers and civilians held around the world and, in the 1980s, became a leading national spokesman for African Americans and twice stood for the Democrats nomination for president.  

When asked what Leicester could do to further fight terrorism, he said: "We must be radical but radical in a loving and caring and peaceful way, fighting together to change our world.  

"We must think about the way we interpret the word 'radical' and remember that Jesus was a radical – but in this peaceful sense I talk about.  

"We must all fight to coexist in peace."  

Mr Jackson spoke at the conference about the lessons to be learned from the US experience of tackling radicalisation and said that we must address the disparity in wealth between the rich and poor in order to achieve peace.  

Other speakers at the conference included Ian Paisley Jr MP, who discussed his experiences in Northern Ireland, as well as Home Office security minister James Brokenshire and Dr Dipu Moni, the foreign minister of Bangladesh.  

At the conference, Mr Vaz announced he would today ask parliament to honour Mr Jackson by nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.