From Madison, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson speaks with GRITtv’s Laura Flanders about the ways in which the protests of working people in Wisconsin are deeply connected to the struggle for civil rights in America’s past and present. Rev. Jackson sees Wisconsin’s fight as part of a larger social justice battle against a system that cuts public transit, lays off teachers and forecloses homes while at the same time doling out large amounts of cash to subsidize the wealthiest corporations in the country.

Rev. Jackson discusses how vulnerable public employees are and how relieved he is to see police and firefighters in Wisconsin admitting they made a mistake by supporting Governor Scott Walker. Jackson suggests "the spirit of Egypt" is spreading across the world and calls for "massive, disciplined action with shared values" to bring a more sane economic policy to America because, as he says in this interview, "economic justice is a civil right."

—Kevin Gosztola