Jesse Jackson inspires children with rousing poem on Sesame Street in resurfaced clip

This is the moment that Jesse Jackson led children in a chant of his iconic “I Am Somebody” poem during an appearance on Sesame Street. On Tuesday (17 February), the family of the longtime civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate announced that he had died at the age of 84. A resurfaced clip from a 1972 episode shows a young Jackson chanting the words with young audience members on the PBS show. “I am somebody! I may be poor. But I am somebody. I may be young, but I am somebody,” he said, with the youngsters mirroring his call. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson became well known for his engaging and rousing speeches that championed racial equality.