Michael W. Jackson '85 Selma, AL
When Michael W. Jackson arrived at Centre in the fall of 1981 from Decatur, Georgia, he embraced everything the College had to offer. And he was sure he was in the right place, just the right distance from home – not too close and not too far that he couldn’t get home in a day’s drive. Michael dove into Centre life, playing football in the fall and running track in the spring. As the years progressed, he joined the pre-law society, became vice president of the Black Student Union, enjoyed intramural sports, and worked in the Science Library – a coveted post with a quiet environment ideal for studying. Michael took numerous government courses from Dr. Stroup and also enjoyed courses with Dr. Hamm and Dr. Cavnes. As he recalled, “I enjoyed writing all those papers” for those professors.
Michael graduated from Centre with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Government and a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics & Management. He went on to attend law school and earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the Florida State University College of Law. Michael began his legal career in the District Attorney’s Office in the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Alabama in 1990, where he began to make a name for himself. He remained there until he ventured into private practice in 1994. In 1995, the Selma City Council appointed Michael as one of two Municipal Judges. Michael was 31 at the time and was featured in JET Magazine as the youngest municipal judge in Alabama. In 1997, Centre honored Michael with the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award.
In June 2004, Michael made local and national news when he was elected District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Selma, Alabama. He was the first African-American to be elected D.A. for the Fourth Circuit and the second African-American D.A. ever elected in the State of Alabama. Just six years later, he made national news again for successfully bringing closure to a case from 1965. The case involved the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson (no relation to our honoree), a local, African-American citizen of Marion, Alabama who was killed by an Alabama State Trooper in the tense days when civil rights activists were trying to register African-Americans to vote in Selma. That murder and the national media coverage that followed helped spark the march from Selma to Montgomery that became infamous for the violence brought down on marchers at the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma.
Though the trooper, James Bonard Fowler, admitted in 2005 to shooting Jimmie Lee Jackson, he claimed it was in self-defense and had never been brought to trial. Our honoree, Michael W. Jackson, was able to bring the case before a grand jury after 40 years. Mr. Fowler was indicted on a murder charge in less than two hours. Fowler later pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter and subsequently served time in prison.
Thanks, in large part, to Michael W. Jackson, the citizens of Marion, Alabama and the descendants of Jimmie Lee Jackson were provided some closure on one terrible event during those violent times.
Michael Jackson was the first African-American named District Attorney of the year for the State of Alabama. He is also one of only eleven District Attorneys on the Executive Committee for the Alabama District Attorneys Association. As David Greer, Centre Class of 1992, indicated in his nomination of District Attorney Jackson, the events that unfolded after Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death intensified pressure on President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, outlawing racially-motivated discriminatory voting practices. The 1965 legislation, along with previous legislation and more that followed, also expanded freedoms to persons with disabilities, the elderly, and women in collegiate athletics, and banned housing discrimination. As Mr. Greer put it, “it is fair to hypothesize that without the wide impact of such legislation, black students such as Kevin Chapman ’00, Dr. Matisa Olinger Wilbon ’97, David Greer himself, and our honoree, Michael W. Jackson, might not be Centre Alumni, much less Centre Young Alumnus winners. As David Greer mentioned in his nomination, “It’s also possible that Centre Athletic Hall of Fame inductees such as Sara Green-Robinson ’02, Marcia Mount Shoop ’91, and Susan Yates Ely ’90 might not have had the opportunity to participate in collegiate sports, if not for the brave and brilliant work and persistence of the many activists and attorneys that continue to fight for justice and human rights”
For his service to the nation, and for the example that he provides to alumni, staff, and faculty and to current and future Centre students, I am pleased to present, on behalf of the Centre College National Alumni Association, Michael W. Jackson, Class of 1985, with the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2018.