Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson (October 8, 1941 - February 17, 2026) was an American politician for the Democratic Party. He was notable as the first African-American politician to run as presidential candidate, which he did during the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections. In both cases, he wasn't (s)elected by the Democratic Party.
Jackson was an African-American civil rights activist in the 1960s and a close associate of Martin Luther King. He also supported LGBT rights.
In 1984, he caused controversy by referring to the Jewish community in New York City as Hymietown, a derogatory term. He later apologized for this remark. Jackson also made the dubious and equally controversial claim that in 1968 he helped Martin Luther King after he was shot and that King died in his arms.
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa quoted Jackson in his Z-Pack - Letter to the President, addressed to Ronald Reagan: "The PMRC loudly decries the label of censorship when it is applied to their plan. Jesse Jackson reminded Jerry Falwell in a recent CNN debate that "You do not judge a tree by the bark it wears, but by the fruit it bears..."
Frank Zappa targeted Jesse Jackson in his song Rhymin' Man.
Jesse Jackson is amongst the names listed mentioned and thanked in the liner notes of The MOFO Project/Object (2006) album.[1]
Frank Zappa about Jesse Jackson
"And I believe, based on a conversation that I had with Michael King, the guy who runs KingWorld, here's how these guys think: For those of you who don't know, KingWorld is a syndicator that does Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Oprah Winfrey. They make an enormous amount of money. Basically, this man earns his living by providing an alternative to the news because the shows that he puts on the air are things that people watch when they don't want to watch the news. So he's made hundreds of millions of dollars by giving people an alternative to the news. We had a conversation in a restaurant about six months ago. He really didn't like Jesse Jackson, and I don't like Jesse Jackson either, but I said, "Jesse is such a huckster he ought to have his own television show. Give Jesse a talk show". And for a minute the cash register went off in this guy's mind, you know, Jesse Jackson with a talk show. Then he immediately said, "No way, I won't give the man a forum". And as much as they like money, and as much as he knew that if Jesse Jackson had a T.V. talk show he would have high rating, this guy wouldn't put Jesse on the air because he didn't want to give him a forum. And I have a feeling that that same conversation was repeated in certain ways when the topic of my talk show was brought up at networks. So, the problem is not how to say it, it's how you get what you're going to say into the ear of the person who needs to hear it. That's the trick." - Frank Zappa in Interview by Bob Marshall, 22 October 1988.
You've also used your songs to level political attacks. You wrote Rhymin' Man about Jesse Jackson. What made you so angry?
Frank Zappa: "An article raised some questions about whether or not Martin Luther King actually died in Jesse's arms. There were reports that Jackson dipped his hands into King's blood or even used chicken blood and rubbed it on his shirt, which he wore for a few days afterward as he met the media. So I did this song about the idea of communicating through nursery rhymes, as Jackson is prone to do. It rubs me the wrong way. I'm not saying that all of Jesse's ideas are bad; I agree with some of them. But I'm not confident that Jesse Jackson would be the person I would look to to implement any of them. I don't want to see any religious people in public office because they're working for another boss." - Frank Zappa. Interview in Playboy, 1993.
