Rick Jackson rolled out a video the other day for his campaign. Songs and jingles for campaigns are not unusual. Many candidates come up with something to plant the name of the candidate firmly in the listener’s mind.
This song did that and more. It told a powerful story of the struggles of a child. It told how that child overcame those overwhelming odds to make a life that impacts thousands of lives today.
The song walks you through the first time that Rick drove a car. He could barely see over the dashboard to drive his drunk and passed out mother home. He told of nights at home with literally an empty cupboard.
He was labeled and laughed at and bullied. He was told that he was white trash.
At five years old something led him to walk to a downtown church where he found refuge and a sense of peace. When the world knocked him down, he found the strength to get up and get up again and again and again to keep fighting against the labeling, name calling, bullying, and being told he would never amount to anything.
He tracked his job career from shoeshine boy, to a paper route, to vacuum cleaner salesman, to the Chief Executive of a multibillion dollar company today. He determined to learn life’s valuable lessons even in the lowliest jobs.
Through his experience, he honed the value of one-on-one relationships and a servant’s heart. Rather than accepting the label of a white trash loser, he looked to win and win big.
He was shaped along the way by loving foster parents and later in the United Methodist Children’s Home. “From the hard road to the high road,” he learned and applied what it took to win big.
He related in his song servanthood and putting America first. When Covid hit, he made Georgia the priority for finding medical personnel to fight the deadly disease. He could have easily increased his bottom line profits by turning his business toward New York – but he stuck with Georgia. (He was not running for and had no thought of running for Governor back then.)
China, had a monopoly on medicine production. When they tried to squeeze America, Rick Jackson bought an American medicine manufacturer and turned it around to keep some medicine production on American soil.
With all of his millions, he never forgot where he came from. He built a successful organization to help foster children when they aged out of foster care.
He sees this run for Governor of Georgia as a drive that calls for strength and clarity. He demonstrates both in his support for law enforcement, families, and the working man.
He is running to win and win big. I like the way he puts it when he says he doesn’t want to be governor. He wants to be a good governor.
Listen to the song here on YouTube. It will move you as much as any patriotic song you’ve ever heard.
If you want to meet Rick in person, he will be making a couple of stops in Southwest Georgia on Friday, March 6 in Blakely and Thomasville. Click on the invites below for more information.