A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power

From CNN’s Abby Phillip, a triumphant biography that reexamines Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns and their influence on modern Black political power.

In A Dream Deferred, CNN anchor Abby Phillip delivers a compelling and meticulously reported portrait of Jesse Jackson, focusing on his historic runs for the U.S. presidency in 1984 and 1988 and how those campaigns reshaped Black political influence in America. Drawing on extensive research, Phillip traces Jackson’s rise from the civil rights movement and his work with Martin Luther King Jr. through his groundbreaking efforts to build broad, multiracial political coalitions that expanded the Democratic Party’s reach. This biography blends narrative storytelling, political analysis, and deep historical context to illuminate Jackson’s impact on American politics and his enduring legacy in the fight for racial justice and political power.

“A Dream Deferred by Abby Phillip is a must-read … written with engrossing, revelatory insight into how Jackson’s campaigns helped shape modern politics.” – Publishers Weekly.

“A joyful, rich, must-read biography of a politician whose flaws and gifts were in constant, intense competition.” – Jake Tapper.

“Reverend Jackson's early-eighties presidential campaigns were a transcendent turning point for Black political power … engrossing and urgent.” – Bakari Sellers.