Welcome to Things Worth Remembering, our weekly column in which writers share a poem or paragraph that all of us should commit to heart. This week, in the wake of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson’s passing at 84, Eli Lake recalls his extraordinary 1984 concession speech that remains a master class in public repentance.
Things Worth Remembering: The Day Jesse Jackson Asked for Forgiveness

Concessions are the hardest type of speech for any politician to give. And yet Jesse Jackson’s was oratory gold, writes Eli Lake. (Via Getty Images).
In 1984, after alienating American Jews and losing his bid for the presidency, the late Jesse Jackson delivered a concession speech that remains a master class in humility.
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