Jesse Jackson hails historic Obama win

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jesse Jackson, a two-time U.S. presidential candidate and long-time black civil rights leader, on Tuesday called Barack Obama's march to capture the Democratic presidential nomination a "transformational moment."

"It is a fulfilling moment to be in Africa trying to reconcile two continents so savagely torn apart by the slave trade ... as a son of America and Africa becomes the de facto Democratic Party nominee," Jackson, 66, said by telephone from Tanzania.

Obama, the son of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother and first-term senator from Jackson's home state of Illinois, was on the brink of becoming the first black presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party.

"It says a lot about a growing, maturing changing America," Jackson said.

Obama's main opponent has been New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the wife of ex-President Bill Clinton. She would have been first major-party female presidential nominee.

"Hillary and Barack became the conduits for which a more mature and a less toxic America was able to ... express itself," said Jackson, in Tanzania for a summit of black American leaders and their African counterparts.

Jackson sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. While he came up short, he scored upset victories in a number of states during the state-by-state nominating contest and did better than expected among white voters.

"We knew this (Obama) breakthrough was possible; we didn't know when or who," said Jackson, who was with Martin Luther King when he was assassinated in 1968.

Jackson traced a 53-year journey for black Americans.

"August 28, 1955: Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi," Jackson said, referring to the 14-year-old whose murder was a landmark event in the U.S. civil rights movement.

"August 28, 1963: Dr. King spoke in Washington of his 'Dream,'" Jackson said. King's "I-have-a- dream' speech helped mobilize supporters of desegregation in the run-up to the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Looking ahead to the Democratic nominating convention in two months, Jackson said: "August 28, 2008: Barack nominated Democratic Party candidate for president. Just look at that development, that rhythm."

Public opinion polls show that Obama would be in a tight race against Republican candidate John McCain for victory in the November presidential election.

(Editing by Patricia Zengerle)