Singing with the Johnsons increased Jackson's professional exposure and gave her confidence to go solo outside the limited venue of Chicago's black neighborhoods. Her observations of Garvey's work and her own experiences of poverty and prejudice against blacks would make it easy for her to embrace the civil rights movement of the 1950's and 1960's.Ī turning point in her singing career came in 1929 when she formed the Johnson Gospel Singers, which performed in Chicago as well as elsewhere in Illinois and in Indiana. Jackson became an admirer of black activist Marcus Garvey, who came to Chicago during the Depression to lead protests against mistreatment of blacks by landlords. Although some black churches were reluctant at first to accept her expressive singing style, Jackson soon became much in demand as a soloist. Now, in the larger, more middle-class black neighborhoods of Chicago, she gained a wider audience. During her New Orleans youth her strong, soulful singing of gospel songs in church had attracted local attention. Meanwhile, Jackson became active in the Greater Salem Baptist Church choir in Chicago. ![]() ![]() Rooming with another aunt, she hoped to study nursing, but financial difficulties, exacerbated by the onslaught of the Great Depression, forced her to take up her old trade of laundress. Jackson worked as a laundress and a nursemaid until 1928 when she left her hometown for Chicago. (age 61) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
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