OAKLAND -- On Saturday, one of Oakland's religious leaders was awarded one of the nation's highest civilian honors -- the President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel Church was recognized for devoting his life to the community he grew up in.
When the medal was hung around his neck, bestowing the award, Bishop Bob Jackson said it was a miracle even he had a hard time believing, especially considering where he came from.
"I grew up as a gangster, a thug, a mugger, a dope user," he said.
Jackson grew up in Campbell Village on Oakland's west side, a rough housing project in the 1970s. His life was changed the day he watched the funeral for a notorious drug dealer whose body was ceremoniously paraded down the street in a horse-drawn carriage.
"For a drug dealer!" Jackson recalled. "I said 'Oh no, this can't be who we glorify in our community, this can't be who we lift up in our community.' What about God?"
In the early 1980s Jackson opened Acts Full Gospel Church and, ever since, he has welcomed the community, counseling the down and out. Sgt. Robert Smith, who helps operate the city's OK Program that mentors youth, said Jackson has helped countless young men avoid a life of crime. Trusted by both sides, Jackson has become an important intermediary between the city's police and its Black community.