During his last visit to Erie, Reverend Jesse Jackson met with several local leaders and businesses including Erie’s Black Wall Street.
Dr. Rhonda Matthews, the Associate Director of Erie’s Black Wall Street said meeting Reverend Jackson left her feeling emotional and awe-struck. Dr. Matthews said she heard the late reverend speak in college and she still remembers some of the lessons he instilled in her that day.
“ For me, the lesson is as an individual person can do what you need to do to make real lasting positive change, you just have to call in the people around you and get to work”, said Dr. Matthews.
She said he was very impressed with the work they were doing in the community. She said their mission was in line with the work he did with developing communities. After he returned home to Chicago, he even reached out to their organization to talk about how much he enjoyed his time and how impressed he was with the work they were doing.
According to Dr. Matthews, “For us, for him to say to us that what we are doing here in our small corner of the world is making a difference that he noticed, just gives us more energy to keep going.”
Dr. Matthews said one of the biggest things she will take away from Reverend Jackson is the importance of surrounding yourself with smart people and working toward the betterment of the country.