Predicting a movement of black conservatives coming out of megachurches, he joined forces with the Religious Right to influence national politics.
Harry R. Jackson Jr., herald of a new black church and a voice of black conservatism, has died at 66.
Jackson was the bishop of an independent charismatic megachurch in Maryland. He allied with the Religious Right to call for a new civil rights movement that focused on abortion, opposing same-sex marriage, and promoting social policies that would strengthen black families. He regularly announced the coming of a new movement of black Christian conservatives that never quite materialized, but he pushed white evangelicals to use their political influence for more quid pro quo dealmaking.
Jackson achieved his greatest influence in Donald Trump’s White House, frequently attending functions, praying publicly, and advocating for policies such as the First Step Act, a prison reform bill that was signed into law in 2018.
“You can’t be a prophet to the culture while you’re standing outside of the room,” Jackson said in response to critics.
In the White House on Good Friday, Trump introduced the bishop as “a highly respected gentleman who is a member of our faith and a person that we have tremendous respect for.”
Jackson was born to Essie and Harry Jackson Sr. in Cincinnati in 1953. His parents had fled north from Florida only three years before, after his father was nearly killed by a white police officer. In Ohio they made a new life and did well enough to send their son to a private school. Most of Jackson’s classmates were wealthy. All of them were white. Jackson’s father told him the school was so expensive, this was his financial inheritance.
“That was the generation that felt education could do it for black people,” the younger Jackson recalled.
He excelled academically ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
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