Jesse Jackson Took Sammy Davis Jr. For A Financial Ride

I try not to get political here. I will only post things that feature political figures if it has something to do with the Rat Pack. That's why I'm posting this. I just couldn't stay away from this story. All I've got to say is that Jesse Jackson should be ashamed of himself.

From Cinema Retro:

This won't come as a shock to anyone who has followed the career of Jesse Jackson, a man who has used his self-appointed status as a civil rights leader to create a financial cottage industry for himself and his sons. Jackson's tactics of threatening racially-driven protests against any corporation that doesn't "co-operate" with his shadowy Rainbow PUSH Coalition have been documented over the decades, but what not been put in the spotlight as frequently is his insistence upon benefiting even when doing a good deed for an African American icon. Take the case of Sammy Davis Jr. The beloved entertainer died penniless in 1989, having spent recklessly and lived a life style that was far beyond even his means. Still, Davis was an indisputed seminal figure in the Civil Rights movement, having been one of the first African Americans to gain wide acceptance with maintstream audiences. In doing so, he broke down barriers and helped advance racial equality. Thus, when, in 1985, Davis asked Jackson to deliver the eulogy for his good friend and conductor George Rhodes, the Rev was all too happy to comply - in return for a fee of $5,000, four first-class plane tickets and two suites at a Four Seasons Hotel. The fact that Davis was broke at the time didn't persuade the good "reverand" from sticking to his guns, so Davis had the tab financed on a colleague's credit card. The revelation is but one from author Matt Birkbeck's forthcoming book Deconstructing Sammy which delves into Davis' rags-to-riches-to-rags life and career.