Martina Jackson, Courtesy of Martina Jackson
Hiding in the back of the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Global Engagement (CIEGE) at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), students pass a small, open office door. Inside, Martina Jackson sits, typing on her computer, surrounded by an array of magazines and papers. A world map is tacked on the wall, along with flyers promoting CIEGE’s cultural events.
Across from her, a young boy with light-brown curls sits, headphones in ears and tablet in hand, quietly playing a game. The boy, Jackson’s 10-year-old son, spends the day in her office surrounded by college students after Madison County Schools announced a snow day.
As a single mother, Jackson is no stranger to a hectic life and balancing the demands of her job with her son, but as someone holding an active political and social justice career, Jackson understands this even more.
The first time Jackson decided to run for public office, she was sitting at a fundraiser in Richmond, Kentucky surrounded by members of the Democratic Executive Committee. Her intentions at the fundraiser were clear: show support for Richmond’s Democratic attorney general candidate.
However, she walked away the next day determined to “throw her hat in the ring” of the 2020 primary election as a representative for Kentucky’s 81st House district.
A statistic she learned through Emerge Kentucky, a program that trains women to run for public office, factored into her decision.
“Women are asked at least seven times if they will run for something, before they say yes,” Jackson said.
Before announcing her candidacy in November 2019, she was asked to run five times. Four of those requests came from a close friend, Lana Soens, whom Jackson said was “persistent” in swaying her to run.
At the time, no one had announced their candidacy for the 81st district yet.
“A friend of mine (Lana Soens), she said, ‘You know, we need someone to run still,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’ll find someone,’ and she goes, ‘That someone should be you. You should do it,’” Jackson said.
Jackson was reluctant to run at first. Working a full-time job, being a single mother and a non-traditional candidate were several barriers she faced.
Most candidates who run for public office are older, retired and have established connections to money, Jackson said. Being a 31-year-old at the time, Jackson was concerned “the cards were stacked” against her.
Her observations at the 2019 fundraiser, however, convinced her to run.
“I was the only visible person of color, woman of color in the room, and I thought ‘This is really strange’ for this lack of representation in the political process, even just at a fundraiser,” Jackson said.
As an Oak Ridge, Tennessee native, Jackson embraces her Appalachian and Afro-Latina heritage. To her, running meant representing the members of her community and paving a path for other women of color to hold legislative positions.
“…all of that is to show people that you can run, and you should run,” Jackson said. “Sometimes when you are blazing that trail it is lonely, but it is needed.”
Despite losing the primary election by 171 votes, Jackson was determined to make a change in her community, so she announced her candidacy for the 2022 election in October 2021. Due to redistricting, Jackson now represented the 91st district.
One of her major campaign points included reducing child abuse and neglect. According to Jackson, Kentucky has one of the highest rates of child abuse in the country.
After graduating Berea College in 2011, Jackson spent close to six years in different East Coast states working in military scholarship foundations, foster care and youth development programs.
This sparked her advocacy for the issue.
Jackson said Kentuckians are “doing a disservice to our future leaders” if child abuse isn’t addressed. She believes improving aspects of the social welfare system—the opioid epidemic, crimes committed against children, college access and public education funding—will lower the child abuse and neglect rates.
May 2022’s primary election resulted in Jackson receiving the Democratic nomination and advancing to the general election. She was defeated by Republican Bill Wesley who received 9,050 votes compared to Jackson’s 4,214, according to Kentucky’s State Board of Elections.
Although she lost the election, Jackson continues advocating for teens, young adults and members of Appalachia and Kentucky. Her current position as CIEGE’s coordinator allows her to advocate for diverse and multicultural student populations through programs such as Global Leaders Unite (GLU) and the Sisterhood, one of CEIGE’s Empowerment Network series.
Miles Feroli, associate director of CIEGE, was hired in May 2022, the same month as Jackson. After working together for several months, they became close friends.
Feroli said the number of votes Jackson garnered during the election was impressive considering the district’s predominantly white population.
“The fact that Martina was able to pull close to 35-40% of the votes actually really speaks to how well she did in the various counties,” said Feroli. “She’s definitely somebody who doesn’t stop. She can’t stop, won’t stop, sometimes to a fault.”
From May to November 2022, Jackson spent every day after work canvassing and speaking with constituents, Feroli said. She invested so much time into her campaign, she came down with a six-week case of bronchitis following the election.
Jackson said her experiences growing up in Tennessee’s Appalachian region inspired her advocacy work for fellow Appalachians and youth. When she returned to Kentucky in 2016, she completed college access work in Kentucky’s Appalachian region.
“I always had a heart for working in Appalachia and that’s culturally significant as well for my family,” said Jackson.
When floods devastated Eastern Kentucky in July 2022, Jackson immediately traveled to affected areas and volunteered at food banks, Feroli said, a testament to her action-oriented personality.
“…she’ll tell you this time and time again, but she’s all about ‘talk to action,’ so moving people from just sitting and thinking and talking about things, to actually getting people, like boots on the ground type stuff,” said Feroli.
Since her 2022 campaign, Jackson stepped back from involvement in three political boards. Although she is chair of Madison County’s Democratic Party, she is taking time to rest.
Running in a general election taught her to be her “authentic self” and navigate different political circles. Jackson said she always strived to represent herself and her family with integrity.
“It took me a while to be able to articulate that, but I felt like at the end of the day, I want to have my integrity, and that no one can take that from me, and if they can, then that means I betrayed myself, and … that is the worst feeling,” said Jackson.
Jackson is unsure whether she will run for public office again.
“Once I get some more rest and have a clear head about election, post-election, I will consider if it’s an option,” Jackson said.
For now, she hopes to continue inspiring EKU’s emerging leaders.