Dallas pastor Frederick Douglass Haynes III has been named successor to Jesse Jackson as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Haynes has served as pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas for 40 years, a role he will continue.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition traces its origin to the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and its Operation Breadbasket.
In 1966, Jesse Jackson was appointed by King to lead Operation Breadbasket, which sought to combine theology and social justice to bring about progressive economic, educational and social policy.
In 1971, Jackson founded People United to Save Humanity (later changed from “Save” to “Serve”), which was known as PUSH. This organization focused on improving the economic conditions of Black communities across the United States.
Eventually, these two organizations merged to create the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which describes its mission as a “multi-racial, multi-issue, progressive, international membership organization fighting for social change.”
Jackson, now 81 and diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, has been the iconic face of the movement for decades.
On Saturday, July 15, Jackson named Haynes as his successor. The announcement was made in conjunction with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s national convention at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, Ill.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention as Jesse Jackson listens. (Screenshot from video)
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke at the convention where she warned that conservative “extremists” seek to undermine Jackson’s legacy.
“In this moment, across our country, we are witnessing hard-fought, hard-won freedoms under full-on attack by extremist so-called leaders,” Harris said. “And these extremists have an agenda, an agenda to divide us as a nation, an agenda to attack the importance of diversity and equity and inclusion and the unity of the Rainbow Coalition.”
Earlier, President Joe Biden issued a statement: “Whether on the campaign trail, on the march for equality, or in the room advocating for what is right and just, I’ve seen (Jackson) as history will remember him — a man of God and of the people; determined, strategic and unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our nation.”
Jackson said he was not retiring but “pivoting.”
Coretta (left) and Martin Luther King (right) with Frederick Haynes Sr., grandfather of Frederick Haynes III. (via Twitter)
Haynes, 62, is a Dallas native who was raised in San Francisco, where his father was pastor of the historic Third Baptist Church. However, his father died when Haynes was 14, on his first day of high school. After that, the young man encountered many difficulties, including discouragement from teachers. Nevertheless, he was one of three valedictorians upon graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School.
Haynes then returned to Dallas, where he attended Bishop College and earned a bachelor of arts degree in religion and English. In 1996, he earned a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, followed in 2005 by a doctor of ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
Since being called to Friendship-West Baptist Church in 1983, he has led the church to grow from 100 members to 13,000. The church has moved three times to accommodate growth.
Haynes and the church are well-known in Dallas and nationally for their social justice work.
In 2003, Haynes joined Jeremiah Wright and Iva Carruthers to found the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, a national organization of pastors, activists and community leaders committed to social justice through the African American faith community in collaboration with civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders.
“Rev. Jesse Jackson has made the world a better place, breaking down barriers, opening previously locked doors of opportunity, fighting for justice and refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer on behalf of those who have no voice,” Haynes said. “Rainbow PUSH has been the organizational vehicle he has driven in the movement for justice. I am honored and humbled that he has tapped me to serve as his successor.”