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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Civil rights leader and political activist Rev. Jesse Jackson will not talk about controversial comments he made about Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama in an address he's giving in Springfield tonight, Aug. 30, the reverend said Friday.

"That's behind us," Jackson told the News-Sun in a phone interview as he was leaving the Democratic National Convention in Denver to head back to Chicago Friday morning. "We're going through a redemptive process of unifying and moving down the line."

Jackson will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 383 E. Leffel Lane. His address is titled "A New America: A More Dangerous and Stressful World."

C. Joseph Sprague, the bishop-in-residence of Covenant United Methodist Church, which invited Jackson to speak, had said in previous interviews that Jackson was expected to address the remarks.

"The remarks made about the senator are in part political but they're also communal. Those need to be addressed," Sprague had said, calling the remarks "intemperate and unfortunate."

But Jackson said he will instead focus on the economy and the growing number of the working poor, especially since jobs are rapidly leaving Ohio.

"The issues before us are economic collapse, Russia and Georgia that we can do nothing about," Jackson said. "In Iraq, losing money, lives and honor. Our children going to second-class schools and living below poverty. That's what we're going to discuss."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.