Believing and Living the American Dream

BROKEN BEGINNINGS

E.W. Jackson was born into a broken home and spent ten years in foster care. His foster mother was very loving but was too lenient when it came to discipline. When Jackson started a gang and dabbled in petty crimes his father decided it was time for him to step in and raise him. His father’s no-nonsense approach to parenting made a profound impact on Jackson’s life. 

He explains, “My father taught me the greatest obstacle to progress is oneself—laziness, dishonesty, and selfish disregard of others will prevent you from reaching your potential.” One of the greatest things he learned from his father was that he was a man of his word. If he said he was going to do something, he always followed through. 

Growing up, Jackson was taught to go to church and respect God. He even recalls wanting to be a preacher as a young boy. Yet, his true conversion experience didn’t happen until he was married to Theodora and attending Harvard Law. One day, while reading the Bible he felt convicted. “I simply began to ask God if He was real, to show me,” he shares. On December 22, 1976, Jackson awoke in the presence of God. “I felt like I was levitating six feet above the bed. For the first time in my life, I experienced the presence of God, and it was unmistakable,” he says.

After that, he wasn’t sure he wanted to practice law, so he also started taking divinity classes. He decided to do both—practice law while also sharing the Gospel and eventually becoming a pastor. 

LOVE OF GOD & COUNTRY

During his Harvard years, Jackson began getting involved in politics. He explains, “Like most Americans of African descent, I was raised as a Democrat…I had no idea that the Democratic Party was replacing Judeo-Christian values with moral relativism, identity politics, and the creation and perpetuation of victim classes.” In addition, issues like abortion and homosexuality plagued his conscience so he began investigating the possibility of becoming a Republican and realized it was a better fit for him. 

As a great-grandson of slaves, Jackson believes that the promise of liberty belongs to all Americans. He wrote Sweet Land of Liberty, with the hope of uniting Americans around our shared legacy of freedom. 

He explains, “Patriots do not pretend America is a perfect country… Yes, evil happens in America, but we are not an evil nation. More goodness emanates from the United States than from any other nation on earth… I challenge every American to take a globe of the earth and spin it until you find a better place to live. If you find it, go there. You won’t because there is no better place for the business of living.”  

To learn more about E.W. Jackson and his ministries, please visit ewjackson.com and www.StandAmerica.us.com.