On The Readiness Report, Redi Tlhabi reflects on the fighting spirit of Jesse Jackson and the warning embedded in his life’s work: democracy weakens when citizens grow tired. With elections looming and institutions under strain, this is a call to courage, participation, and refusing to normalise injustice.
This episode was made possible thanks to The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom: https://www.freiheit.org/sub-saharan-africa
Archival footage courtesy of Radio 702. Interview by Redi Tlhabi.
You can listen to the Let’s Talk Human Rights podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu00m-l7ea9IBJGB-21RBwXVEhmDeCY2N
Hosted by: Redi Tlhabi
Edited by: Joel Seboa
Produced by: Emilie Gambade & Joel Seboa
Original Theme Music & Design by: Bernard Kotze
You can listen to the podcast everywhere, including Spotify!
Support journalism that protects democracy. Become a Maverick Insider. https://tinyurl.com/SupportDailyMaverick
01:02 Meeting Jesse Jackson in 2010: A Political Lens After the World Cup
01:25 Core Theme: Don’t Get Comfortable With Oppression
02:00 Today’s Moral Drift: Racism, Xenophobia, and Global Atrocities
03:47 Standing Up When It Costs You: What Courage Looks Like
04:17 Jesse Jackson in South Africa
06:05 One Struggle, One World: Linking Alabama to Soweto
08:06 Lessons for Democracy: Corruption, Accountability, and Remembering the Cost
11:05 Erasing History: Black History Month and the Politics of Denial
14:15 The Seduction of Comfort: Complacency as Democracy’s Real Threat
16:43 Obama’s Inauguration Tears: Ordinary People Make History
19:56 Justice Is Indivisible: Global Solidarity From Apartheid to Palestine
21:03 Don’t Adjust—Vote, Speak Up, and Defend Democracy
You can find us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dailymaverick/
On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailymavericksa
Or on Twitter here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article_tag/x/
