Jesse Jackson urges Ohioans to fight for rights

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. says Ohio residents should fight for voters’ rights, the right to collective bargaining and to keep U.S. health care reforms intact.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the civil-rights and political activist stopped at a Columbus church Sunday to meet with a group of pastors to discuss issues related to the poor and middle class and to civil liberties.

Jackson told reporters in front of Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, “We need to go back to the streets in great numbers. ... We need the commitment to fight back.”

He said he has targeted Senate Bill 5, which weakens collective-bargaining rights for public employees; House Bill 194, the contested election-reform law; and attempts in Ohio to overturn portions of federal health-care reform.