New Mural Honors Civil Rights Leader

San Jose added a new public marker of Inez Jackson’s legacy this week with a mural at the African American Community Service Agency, the downtown nonprofit she helped found in 1978. The work was unveiled May 19 at the agency’s building, home to the Inez C. Jackson Library, according to The Mercury News. The project was developed with AACSA, local arts nonprofit Local Color and artist Ian Young, whose design was backed through a public fundraising campaign. Jackson, who died in 1993, is remembered in San Jose civic history as an organizer, educator and barrier-breaking postal worker. ### Who was Inez Jackson in San Jose history? Inez Jackson was San Jose’s first Black postal clerk in 1949, according to project materials published by Local Color. The same materials describe her as an activist, teacher and postal worker who fought discrimination in housing, education and employment after moving from Oklahoma to California. AACSA traces part of its own history to Jackson. The organization says she co-founded the African American Community Service Agency in 1978, and the agency later named its library in her honor. A separate local history profile says Jackson also became the first African American president of the YWCA in San Jose and led the NAACP in Santa Clara County. (mercurynews.com) ### Why place the mural at the African American Community Service Agency? The African American Community Service Agency is one of Silicon Valley’s few African American cultural centers, according to the organization’s website. The group says it was established in 1978 and continues to provide educational, cultural, social and recreational programs for the Black community and the wider county. (fundrazr.com) The mural’s location ties Jackson’s public memory to one of the institutions she helped build. Local Color’s fundraising page said the goal was to “beautify the AACSA's building” and memorialize the namesake of the Inez Jackson Library, adding that there was little in public space commemorating her legacy in San Jose. ### Who made the mural, and how was it funded? (sjaacsa.org) Local Color said it partnered with AACSA and artist Ian Young on the mural project. The campaign page identified Young’s studio as Quiet Giant Design and said the effort sought community support to finance the installation. The fundraising campaign was still visible this week with a $20,000 goal and more than $15,000 raised. (fundrazr.com) Local Color describes itself as a San Jose-based nonprofit that supports public art and says it has helped facilitate more than 100 permanent and temporary murals in and around the city. ### What role did the library play in the project? San Jose Public Library was identified in the story context around the mural project as a partner in the installation at AACSA. (fundrazr.com) The city library system’s website lists ongoing cultural programming and community partnerships across San Jose, though the mural page itself was not readily surfaced in public event listings reviewed Wednesday. That makes AACSA’s site, Local Color’s campaign materials and The Mercury News report the clearest public records of the collaboration. The Inez C. Jackson Library remains one of the most direct links between Jackson’s name and the institution she helped establish. A local women’s history project says the library at AACSA was established in 1981 in her honor. ### Why does the mural matter now? The Mercury News described the mural as a new public tribute to a “groundbreaking San Jose community leader.” Local Color’s campaign materials framed the project as an effort to create a visible landmark for AACSA and to draw new visitors to the building. (sjpl.org) Those descriptions come from the organizations involved rather than from city officials in a formal proclamation reviewed for this story. (womanhoodproject.org) AACSA’s calendar shows the organization remains active with public events, including its Juneteenth Freedom Ball on June 7, 2026. The mural now gives the agency a permanent visual tribute at the site near downtown San Jose, where Jackson’s name already anchors the library inside the building. (sjaacsa.org) (mercurynews.com)