Even with more than four decades of civil activism behind him, it was probably one of the less promising venues for a rousing speech faced by Jesse Jackson: a ramshackle plinth in front of St Paul's Cathedral on a chilly December day, the traffic roaring just a few metres behind him.
But the veteran US campaigner, church minister and sometime presidential hopeful nonetheless wowed the Occupy London camp on Thursday night with a speech hailing the protest as not just a force for good but as a direct descendent of the civil rights movement.
"There is something powerful about this demonstration here at St Paul's. You represent Jesus standing outside the temple," Jackson told a cheering crowd in a brief but wide-ranging address that took in the meaning of Christmas, deaths in police custody and even the wider meaning of Premier League football.
Invited by the protesters, who have been camped in the shadow of the London cathedral since 15 October to highlight what they see as gross global economic injustices, Jackson was the highlight of a day of action titled Occupy Everything.
Clad in a smart overcoat and hat, Jackson, now 70, remains a formidable presence and a compelling speaker.
The Occupy movement, which began in Spain before gaining prominence in the US and then moving to other countries, was "a global spirit, which is now sweeping the nation and the world, fighting for justice for all of God's children", he said.
"Occupiers are the canaries in the mine, warning us of the dangers – few have too much, too many have too little, too much poverty, too many costly wars."
In comments which delighted the crowd of about 300 people, Jackson portrayed the movement as a direct descendant of struggles involving the likes of Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi, Martin Luther King – with whom Jackson marched at the start of his career as a civil rights activist – and Nelson Mandela.
"They are all exalted now but they were rejected as occupiers, as protesters, as radicals, called terrorists by governments," he said. "The occupiers' cause is a just cause, a moral cause. They should not be dismissed but heard – listen to their message.
"Banks got bailed out, people got left out. Protesters are criminalised but not a single banker has gone to jail for their crimes, the corruption and greed which drove the global economy to the brink of collapse."
The speech perhaps contained more religion than usual at the camp, which remains relatively atheistic despite its location, but Jackson leavened this with carefully chosen UK-specific statistics, even a reference to Monday's Chelsea v Manchester City game, used to make a slightly opaque metaphorical point about "level playing fields".
Some of his strongest words came when asked what he felt the response of St Paul's and the wider Church of England should be to the protest on its doorstep.
While St Paul's reversed its initial decision to join action by the Corporation of London to evict the campers, its attitude to the group remains, at best, ambiguous. Shortly before Jackson's address, protesters were angry after barriers were installed in front of the cathedral steps before Christmas carol services, something occupiers said church had officials previously assured them was not planned.
He said: "The church should be the headquarters for the Occupy movement. In a sense, the occupiers represent the conscience of the church."
Cyril Zeldine, 33, who was among the original campers at the site and remains based there ("Yes, it's a little cold now, but we're well prepared"), said Jackson's message had been "quite inspiring".
He said: "He's just one man, so his fame shouldn't really count, but I am humbled a little that he's chosen to come here. It shows that the outside world is paying attention to what we're doing; it feels like we're achieving something."
The camp faces what is likely to be a long court battle after the Corporation of London served legal papers seeking eviction at the start of this month. Another site, the so-called Bank of Ideas, inside a disused office building owned by the bank UBS on Sun Street in Hackney, also faces legal action.
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