Eric Jackson (born 1952 in

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and Port#Seaport, seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's se ...

) is a politician, journalist, and radio talk show host. He is the chief editor of '' The Panama News'

and host of the Wappin' Radio Show, both of which are made in Antón, Panama.

History

Jackson was born in Colón, Panama, on December 29, 1952, where he lived with his family in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

until after his father's death, when his family moved to

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

, in June 1966. He became a radical activist, dropping out of high school and joining Motor City SDS Weathermen in 1969 and later living in

Yippie The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on D ...

communes. In 1971, Jackson got into trouble with the law for destroying a Marine recruiter's literature table in protest against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. As a result, he spent 30 days in jail and was ordered to go back to school by a judge. As Jackson did not have a

high school diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

, he was admitted as a special student to

Washtenaw Community College Washtenaw Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Ann Arbor Charter Township, Michigan.Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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After graduation, he went on to study law at the Detroit College of Law, where he received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

br>
After spending about 28 years in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he returned to Panama in 1994 to cover that year's Panamanian election campaign, and later that year became the founding editor of ''The Panama News'

Public office

While Jackson was in Michigan, he became involved with the Human Rights Party (United States), Human Rights Party and in 1974 was elected to the

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

, city council! In 1976 he was re-elected to the positio

He was also elected as a Democratic precinct delegate eight times and was appointed as a member of the Ypsilanti Building Code Board of Appeals by both Democratic and Republican mayors.

Literature

While in Panama, Jackson started working for ''The Panama News'', an English-language newspaper, that was in printed form at the time. The paper went on to become the online version of ''The Panama News''. In 2000, Jackson released a book entitled, '' 9°N''. The book's title derives from the approximate

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

of Panama.

The Panama News

The English reading community in Panama had been on a steady decline after the closing of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

bases, making it hard for an English

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

to survive in a country where the main language is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. ''The Panama News'' started out as a small English newspaper that catered to a small group, and as more and more of the hard-copy newspapers were dying out, ''The Panama News'' launched its own website in hopes of recovering some of its readership, thus taking the newspaper to a place where it could be reached from anywhere in the world.

External links

''The Panama News'' Website

References

Interview from the Panama Eagle
Article by Silvio Sirias

includes photos of Eric. *9°N Dispatches from Panama, 1994–2000. Eric Jackson. Panama News Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Eric 1952 births Living people People from Colón, Panama Zonians Human Rights Party (United States) politicians Michigan city council members Eastern Michigan University alumni Detroit College of Law alumni American male journalists American radio personalities Washtenaw Community College alumni