Fern Britton to interview Jesse Jackson

The BBC has announced that Fern Britton will talk to veteran US civil rights campaigner The Reverend Jesse Jackson for her new interview series.

Fern Britton Meets... starts this Sunday on BBC One with the Jackson interview, in which he will discuss the challenges facing Barack Obama in his presidency.

One of the most enduring images during Obama's US presidential victory speech was of Jackson in the crowd, tears streaming down his face.

Discussing the moment, he says: "When I looked at him walk out and victory being declared, I thought about nameless, faceless people that you will never know, many of my friends had become martyred for the right to vote, and now here we are electing an African-American president.

"So, there I stood watching 50 years of labour, sacrifice and risk and so the journey overwhelmed me and the joy of us getting there."

Jackson, who mounted failed campaigns for the Democratic party nomination in 1984 and 1988, will note that Obama is "operating against great odds" in the US, including "unprecedented attacks" against his character.

"We've never known such violent personal attacks on someone with coded words - is he one of us? Is he an American? Was he born here? Is he a Christian?" he says.

"We've never known such violent attacks before. He has a high moral compass. He has integrity and he has courage, so he has the stuff of which great presidents are made. But he's operating against great odds.

"But I find a certain satisfaction of watching him grow in the office. Well, he has superior skills and his greatness will come in time."

Despite the fact that an African-American is now in the White House, the reverend believes that the battle for civil rights is as pressing as ever.

"We are free but not equal. There's a lot of unfinished business, as we seek not just racial justice but economic justice," Jackson says.

"That's important because when they close a plant and turn the lights out we all look very much alike in the dark. So we must take light into dark places and heating into cold places. That's important with our mission."