Postmark Honors Jackson

CIVIL rights leader Jesse Jackson has become the first living black and only the second living person to be honored on a United States postmark. At a US Postal Service ceremony here Feb. 18 honoring a ``Blacks on Stamps'' series, the postmark - the stamp cancellation mark on an envelope - was unveiled. It shows the Rev. Mr. Jackson's likeness in a collage with other black leaders such as the late Martin Luther King Jr.

The only other living person to be so honored is a former astronaut and current senator, John Glenn (D) of Ohio.

In a speech prepared for the event marking Black History Month and President's Day, Jackson said Americans must not forget the needs of people at home while they concentrate on the Gulf war.

``If we can fight together in the Persian Gulf to liberate the weak from the strong, we can stand and fight together at home to seek common ground and mutual security,'' Jackson said.

Jackson, who finished second to former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in the race for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, is currently serving as a ``shadow senator'' from Washington, D.C. His task is to lobby Congress for statehood for the district.