At least I can say that I've never claimed Jesse Jackson as the voice of my spirit or my politics--which is much consolation to me and an affirmation of my own intuition about the leader of the Rainbow Coaltion and, unfortunately, the sung voice of Black America as we approach the new millennium.

Jesse Jackson spoke at Mt. Zion Baptist Church on September 4, presumably to address two issues--discrimination at Boeing and Initiative 200, which would abolish affirmative action in the state of Washington if it passes in November.

Having a vague understanding of Jackson's politics, I was prepared for an evening of litany and soundbites from a man offering inspirational food for the soul, if a weak political agenda. Nonetheless, I'd never seen him speak live and I was interested.

I did think it was ironic that a follower of King, still moving in the nonviolent sector of civil rights activism, would visit Boeing--the weapons manufacturer--to pressure their CEO to recruit and then-please-respect employees from our African-American labor force. But I also realize this moral disposition ignores the reality that enough Boeing workers are African-American that their corporate ethics (no pun intended) directly affect the black community. That I would never work for Boeing and have put a voodoo curse on all the dollars from my taxes that go to them is another issue all together.

What I was not prepared for, however, was an evening with Anthony Robbins as Jackson moved his congregation to the soaring spiritual heights of corporate inclusion. Jackson eloquently summarized the heart of the African-American struggle in his 4-point history lesson:

from Slavery to Sharecropping (and legal apartheid) to Suffrage to WALL STREET ?

Is that what our ancestors fought and died for?

Jackson duly noted that even of all the registered voters in the audience (100% since he personally registered all the questionables), many would not vote this November. He reminded all us that "you cast your vote with every dollar you spend." Good point. But what sounded like the beginning of a provoking attack on consumerism quickly turned into a pledge drive as Jackson offered a surprise item on his agenda in Seattle: to raise $50,000 of blood money (blood, sweat and tears from the black community) to invest in 25 public companies, including--you guessed it--Boeing.

Even my shrewd intuition about Jackson could not prepare me for the greatest irony of all--a nonviolence practitioner and leader whose response to discrimination and whose commentary on changing the dynamics of equal opportunity in this country amounted to mobilizing energy and collecting funds from the black community to invest in corporate America--including but not limited to the granddaddy of the B-52 bomber and the major producer of weapons for U.S. military offense. And how ironic still that these very companies enabled us to bomb little countries in big, brown parts of the world like Sudan and Afghanistan.

Did our peacekeeper forget about that incident? Perhaps he did. After all, that was almost three weeks ago and as Jackson said: "Our dreams must be greater than our memories."

There were a lot of ironies in place that evening. The standing ovation for two lawyers suing Boeing on discrimination charges--but none for the mere workers; El Centro de la Raza's Roberto Maestos, ranting about migrant workers' rights and cleverly omitting the word "union"; a gospel music backdrop to the emcee announcing all the Lexus' and Pathfinders blocking driveways; and a discussion of labor issues to a congregation comprised largely of middle and upper middle class Americans--most of whom roared along with Jackson every time he finished a sentence and chanted back as his litany evolved from:

I AM -- SOMEBODY to INVESTORS! PARTNERS!!!

If it seems like I've forgotten to mention Initiative 200 in all this, it's because it seemed to slip Jackson's mind as well. As with the rest of corporate America, these small issues take a backseat in the real capitalist program, which Jackson cleverly epitomized at the pulpit of a down-home Seattle church house, when all else fails:

"FIGHT MONEY--WITH MONEY!"

Contacting Boeing to find out the exact percentage of their African-American labor force proved pointless. Between computer switchboards and an offer for free information on their commercial airplanes, the two real people I spoke with only wanted to know: "What do you need this information for? Is this a Poll? Survey? College paper, maybe?" No one would provide demographics info. One woman even said they didn't have it. Public company? Really?