ACT-SO was founded in 1978 by journalist Vernon Jarrett. After his passing in 2004, the following article from the Crisis magazine was republished as a tribute to his life and tremendous work.
The headlines and stories are memorable: “Clarence Thomas fails as a role model for blacks” – “Black office holders don’t speak for all” “Sobering realities of David Duke” — “Operation PUSH has support for Nike Boycott.” These are just a few of the Chicago SunTimes clippings I have kept of Vernon Jarrett’s commentaries over the past 12 years. As I reread them to prepare for my interview with Jarrett, it occurred to me why I have kept them. Jarrett’s commentaries transcend time. He is to journalism what John Coltrane and Theolonius Monk are to jazz. Jarrett also stretches the definition of what it means to be a black journalist. He not only uses his craft to educate and enlighten, but also to keep himself inspired and to motivate his readers into social and political action. Jarrett is recognized as the creator and national chair of the NAACP’s heralded ACT-SO program for youths, and he is highly regarded as one of the founders of the 3,000-member National Association of Black Journalists Inc., the world’s largest organization of ethnic communicators. But that’s not the beginning or end of his activism.