::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

By Mona Austin  "KEEP HOPE ALIVE and  I AM SOMEBODY." are the famous words of the Rev. Jesse Jackson who  helped Africans Americans forge ahead in a nation that would deny them.  He lifted Black people's pride in themselves. Saying "Black is beautiful," he helped the nation understand that Black life mattered and had value and worth in the 70s and 80s.  The towering political and religious figure  has died at the age of 84. His health had declined from   Parkinsons disease. His family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Tuesday morning.  His historic  presence as a public servant began as a mentee with MLK when he was a teen.  Any reflections on his life would be incomplete without recognizing him as a great American whose diplomacy and negotiating skills benefitted the nation and world from the work on apartheid to Kuwait.  Mr. Jackson's presidential runs in 1984 in 1988 paved the way for Barack Obama, the first Bla...