Jesse Jackson

Acting

Jesse Jackson

Born 1941-10-08 · Greenville, South Carolina, USA

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. (October 8, 1941 — February 17, 2026) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He founded of both entities that merged to form Rainbow/PUSH. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is his eldest son. In an AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll in February 2006, Jackson was voted 'the most important black leader'.

Acting credits

Uptight poster
6.8

Set against the backdrop of a community mourning the recent MLK assassination, Black militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by one of their own.

Uptight

1968

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) poster
7.6

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

2021

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special poster
6.9

A TV special celebrating the 25th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Before a celebrity audience, many of the former cast members and guest hosts return to perform their signature monologues and present a look back at some of the best comedy skits and musical numbers of the past two and a half decades.

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special

1999

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic poster
7.1

Mike Epps, Richard Pryor Jr. and others recount the culture-defining influence of Richard Pryor - one of America's most brilliant, iconic comic minds.

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic

2013

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony poster
6.5

The struggle to eradicate apartheid in South Africa has been chronicled over time, but no one has addressed the vital role music plays in this challenge. This documentary by Lee Hirsch recounts a fascinating and little-known part of South Africa's political history through archival footage, interviews and, of course, several mesmerizing musical performances.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

2002

A Man's Story poster
6.9

Documentary about British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.

A Man's Story

2011

Nationtime: Gary poster
8.0

A report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered Black voices from across the political spectrum, among them Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Richard Hatcher, Amiri Baraka, Charles Diggs, and H. Carl McCall.

Nationtime: Gary

1972

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis poster
7.3

A presentation of key events in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning with the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, MLK is followed through major steps in his struggle to promote racial equality. Including footage of King's stirring speeches, it is a fitting tribute to his legacy, and features clips narrated by a wide range of celebrities, including Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman Charlton Heston, Ruby Dee, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Walter Matthau, Ben Gazzara, Clarence Williams III, Joanne Woodward, and James Earl Jones.

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

1970

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip poster
7.4

Richard Pryor's stand-up act includes his frank discussion about his freebasing addiction, as well as the infamous night on June 9, 1980 that he caught on fire.

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip

1982

University, Inc. poster
8.0

The closing of a student film program serves as a paradigm for interrogating the corporate ideology that guides the largest public university in the USA: the University of Texas at Austin.

University, Inc.

1999

We Are Many poster
6.7

The story of the biggest demonstration in human history, which took place on 15th February 2003, against the impending war on Iraq.

We Are Many

2014

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street poster
7.4

Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most influential children's show in television history. From the iconic furry characters to the classic songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed the world.

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

2021

LA 92 poster
7.7

Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.

LA 92

2017

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy poster
6.8

A cheap, powerful drug emerges during a recession, igniting a moral panic fueled by racism. Explore the complex history of crack in the 1980s.

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy

2021

BaadAsssss Cinema poster
6.0

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

BaadAsssss Cinema

2002

4 Little Girls poster
7.1

On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls who were there for Sunday school. It was a crime that shocked the nation--and a defining moment in the history of the civil-rights movement. Spike Lee re-examines the full story of the bombing, including a revealing interview with former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

4 Little Girls

1997

Operation Breadbasket poster
NR

Actor Robert Culp narrates this special examining the use of boycotts by African-Americans as a way of obtaining jobs.

Operation Breadbasket

1969

Fantastic Lies poster
7.2

One night in Durham, North Carolina, a rape accusation set fire to the reputations of three college athletes and their elite university. As the Duke lacrosse players grappled with their transition from model student to the criminally accused, several wars were launched on different fronts.

Fantastic Lies

2016

Michael Jackson Memorial poster
8.0

A live telecast of the public memorial service for the king of pop, Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson Memorial

2009

Last Party 2000 poster
6.8

Filmed over the last six months of the 2000 Presidential election, Phillip Seymour Hoffman starts documenting the campaign at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but spends more time outside, in the street protests and police actions than in the orchestrated conventions. Hoffman shows an obvious distaste for money politics and the conservative right. He looks seedier and more disillusioned the campaign progresses. Eventually Hoffman seems most energized by the Ralph Nader campaign as an alternative to the nearly indistinguishable major parties. The high point of the film are the comments by Barney Frank who says that marches and demonstrations are largely a waste of time, and that the really effective political players such as the NRA and the AARP never bother with walk ins, sit-ins, shoot-ins or shuffles. In the interview with Jesse Jackson, Hoffman is too flustered to ask all of his questions.

Last Party 2000

2001

No artwork available
NR

Northern Ireland has had many historic days in the last 40 years. October 5th, 1968 could be the most important. In this documentary, many of those who took part in the Civil Rights march in Derry on this date talk of the international influences that drove them to take to the streets in protest. Featuring interviews with the voices of dissent in America, Europe and Northern Ireland.

The Day the Troubles Began

2008

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History poster
8.2

Through never-been-seen-before footage and fascinating interviews with key members of the 1985 Chicago Bears -- Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, and others -- you will hear the inside story of their historic season.

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

2016

Route One/USA poster
7.4

Route One is the first major U.S. highway. 5000 km along the Atlantic coast, from the Canadian border to the tip of Florida. Doc, a physician who spent many years in Africa, returns to the U.S. and decides to reconnect with his home country by walking the legendary Route One.

Route One/USA

1989

The Journey of the African-American Athlete poster
10.0

Documentary feature exploring the rise of African-Americans to positions of greatness in American sports. Stories are told of boxers, tennis players, runners, and basketball players, athletes who either suffered the indignities of racism, helped break down its walls, or enjoyed the opportunities afforded by past struggles.

The Journey of the African-American Athlete

1996