Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson has been accused of sexual harassment by a journalist who says the Chicago community leader grabbed her thigh while making a crude comment.
Writer Danielle Young, in an article for “The Root,” accused Jackson of making the “unwanted” advance and comment during a photo-op after a media event.
“I walked toward Jackson, smiling, and he smiled back at me,” Young wrote. “His eyes scanned my entire body. All of a sudden, I felt naked in my sweater and jeans. As I walked within arm’s reach of him, Jackson reached out a hand and grabbed my thigh, saying, ‘I like all of that right there!’ and gave my thigh a tight squeeze.”
The post included several photos of the encounter in which Young writes “don’t let the smile fool you. I’m cringing on the inside.”
A representative for Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition said “Although Rev. Jackson does not recall the meeting three years ago, he profoundly and sincerely regrets any pain Ms. Young may have experienced.”
Young said she was “never going to tell this story” originally “because for the longest time, I didn’t even know if there was a story.”
“What happened to me was something that was so casual, I almost didn’t even consider it sexual harassment, even though it was beyond my desire,” she wrote.