Letter: Thanks for engagine thoughts on Herald Opinion page

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 6, 2026

After reading Sid Schwab’s list of our President’s “achievements” (“Schwab: Sure, the SOTU address was a mess, but what else is new?’ The Herald, Feb. 27) and Willie Dickerson’s letter to the editor honoring the Rev. Jesse Jackson, I wanted to thank The Herald for another memorable Opinion page.

First things first. I’m biased. My first cousin works for the Supreme Court. He’s the chief justice. Growing up, we always called him “Jackie.” Never “John.” After high school, he went to Harvard and I followed the Rolling Stones. I think he’s got the hardest job in any branch of government. I last saw him 10 years ago at a funeral for one of our uncles. I remember Jackie as affable and kind (and a good baseball player when we were 10 years old at his home near Lake Michigan).

Secondly, I look forward to Willie Dickerson’s letters. They are hopeful and positive (unlike others, mine included). Every sixth grader should read Willie’s letter and Michele Singletary’s column on Rev. Jackson that Dickerson referenced. Willie and Michele offer important history and context. I attended the 1972 Operation PUSH Black Expo at Chicago’s International Amphitheater on junior high field trip, and while I don’t remember Rev. Jackson’s speech or his “soul handshake” with Mayor Daley (the elder), it was exciting to see a stadium filled with African Americans dancing to the Jackson 5 and hanging on to every word by civil rights leader Julian Bond. Growing up, I remember the 1968 Democratic convention and its riots, the trial of the Chicago 7, the counterculture’s Summer of Love, and the Vietnam War (and protests against it) on black and white TV.

I was inspired by the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago 54 years ago, and writers like Sid Schwab, Michele Singletary and Willie Dickerson have reignited that spark first lit at that Operation PUSH event.

Eric Steiner

Freeland