From Wikipedia:
Jackson was born on January 13, 1952 in Chester, Pennsylvania, the great-grandson of slaves.[2] His parents separated when he was a child, and he spent most of his childhood in a foster home.[3]
He eventually joined the United States Marine Corps, serving for three years. Following the Marines, he entered the University of Massachusetts Boston and received his degree in three years.[4] In 1978, he earned a law degree from Harvard Law School and practiced law in the Boston area for 15 years.[5]
He received a degree from the Harvard Divinity School, and became a preacher with the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Boston.[4]
Jackson taught administrative law at Northeastern University, and commercial law at Strayer University’s campuses in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Raised a Democrat, his religious beliefs led him to embrace conservatism.[3] While in Boston, he appeared on several radio shows on WHDH, and hosted a nationally syndicated talk show, “Earl Jackson Across America.”[6]
In 1996, he joined with the Christian Coalition to head “The Samaritan Project,” an outreach program that distributed $500,000 to churches that were victims of arson. He served as a minister with the chapel of the Boston Red Sox for five years, and also served as the protestant chaplain for the Boston Fire Department.[4]
In June 1998, he was consecrated a bishop. Later that year, he and his family moved to Chesapeake, Virginia, and founded Exodus Faith Ministries.
On July 4, 2010, Jackson established Staying True to America’s National Destiny (STAND)[7] as a grassroots political organization, noted for its conservative stances on issues such as abortion, marriage, and government. In the same month, he made headlines[8] for his views condemning the New Black Panther Party in regard to voter intimidation.[9]
In 2012, he recorded a video appeal that generated national attention to blacks to leave the Democratic Party, saying it has abandoned the values of the black community and that blacks had developed a “slavish devotion” to the party.[10] He has spoken in black churches across the country on the issues facing the country and says he has received overwhelmingly positive responses
“From Wikipedia:
Jackson was born on January 13, 1952 in Chester, Pennsylvania, the great-grandson of slaves.[2] His parents separated when he was a child, and he spent most of his childhood in a foster home.[3]”
I understood Jackson to say yesterday that he was born in Orange, Virginia. Perhaps he grew up in Orange, Virginia.
Our Obenshain bus left after the final voting so we missed Jackson’s acceptance speech. I hope it gets posted online so others can see his appeal.
I confirm what others have said about the transformation of the Virginia GOP over the past few years — the tea party candidates and influence is strong and the chairman, Pat Mullins gets and loves that.
My one confusion yesterday was candidate Pete Snyder who was introduced by Mike Farris and Oliver North yet seemed like such an establishment choice. I know his supporters are encouraging him to run next year for Senate. He might be a great guy and probably is considering who backs him.