[3] He was a full professor of English at Southern University, another historically black college, from 1954 to 1956, and he later became the dean of its Graduate School.

[3] Jackson joined the English department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1969,[8] where he was the first African-American faculty member to become a full professor.

[2] He pioneered the African-American Studies program at UNC Chapel Hill, where he also served on a committee to hire more African Americans as faculty.

[4] Jackson was the author of several books about African-American literature, including one co-authored with Louis D. Rubin Jr.

[4] The Blyden and Roberta Jackson Graduate Fellowship Fund at UNC Chapel Hill was established in 1989.