JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two notable civil rights leaders are going to Brunswick to join the demonstrations outside the Glynn County Courthouse this week during the death of Ahmaud Arbery trial.
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. William Barber are both longtime social activists who have been active since the 1960s and 1970s respectively. They are expected to arrive in Brunswick on Thursday or Friday.
The 80-year-old Jackson was part of Dr. Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and took part in the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. He was also present when King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
He later helped to found Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition in Chicago. Jackson was twice a candidate for president on the Democratic ticket in 1984 and 1988, losing in the primaries both times. He served as a "shadow senator" for the District of Columbia between 1990-1997.
Dr. William Barber has been involved in activism began participating in activism when he was 15.
The 58-year-old has been particularly active in North Carolina since the mid-2000s, where he organized several protests at the state capital in Raleigh.
In 2010, he received National NAACP Kelly M. Alexander Humanitarian Award and the Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Esq. Award for legal activism in 2006.
In 2016, Barber gave a speech during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Since the beginning of the death of Ahmaud Arbery trial, daily demonstrations have taken place outside of the Glynn County Courthouse, drawing hundreds of people calling for the conviction of Gregory and Travis McMichael as well as William Bryan.
