Farewell, Rev. Jesse Jackson – We Cherish Your Life and Lessons

Essays Honoring the Life and Work of the Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. by Eddie Wong, Carl Davidson, Ben Ferris, Susan Hayase, Larry Hendel, David Monkawa, Joyce Nakamura, Mark Prudowsky, Jamala Rogers, Ellen Griffith Spears, and Chet Whye.

By Eddie Wong, Posted February 25, 2026

Part I: Feb. 17, 2026.

I woke up at 5 am, my phone was pinging with notifications of Rev. Jackson’s passing from friends and news media. By 6:30 am, I pulled these thoughts together for a Facebook post.

Rest in peace and power, my leader, my teacher, my brother in the struggle. You were loved by multitudes because you taught us the power and beauty of joining together across lines of race, class, religion, spiritual beliefs, gender and sexual preference, and social movements to become a Rainbow Coalition. You were hated and hounded by those who were determined to keep us divided and thus powerless.

I remember you for your vision, courage and determination, which could be seen by anyone with an open heart and mind. And I’ll remember you for your sense of humor, which many did not see, and your small acts of kindness that you practiced all the time with family and friends. When my young daughter relapsed with cancer, you were the first to offer unlimited financial help and personal care. It was an offer that came from the heart and my wife and I cherished your support.

Today, we are sad that your voice has been stilled but joy cometh in the morning as we gather determined to in your words “Keep Hope Alive.” We must continue the journey towards freedom and justice for all and build a new American Dream to banish the current nightmare of cruelty and corruption by an authoritarian ruler and his enablers. Just as you tried throughout your life, Rev. Jackson, we will carry on fulfilling the promise of the American creed: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Eddie Wong, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Maggie Wong. Chicago Chinese American Museum, February 2023. Photo courtesy by Donna Kotake.

We enter the new year of the Fire Horse today, and you will ride with us reminding us that bravery and courage are our birthright, one that carries us forward to a new day and a new age.

Part II: Feb. 25, 2026.  Tomorrow Rev. Jackson’s body will be lying in repose at the Rainbow PUSH headquarters in Chicago, and over the course of two days, thousands of people of all nationalities, faiths, and beliefs will pay homage to him. We will remember Jesse for his tremendous gifts and his many sacrifices as he sought to open doors for African Americans who were locked out of jobs, business opportunities, and access to education. But his quest was always broader than a Black struggle for economic opportunity and civil rights; his vision for social justice applied to all marginalized and disenfranchised people: women, working people, gays and lesbians, the disabled, and all people of color.

And his vision was always international, drawing parallels between the fight for full democratic rights in the U.S. with the fight to end apartheid in South Africa.  During a conversation with Rev. Jackson in 2020 (see: https://eastwindezine.com/asian-americans-and-jesse-jackson-from-vincent-chin-to-the-rainbow-coalition-a-conversation-with-the-rev-jesse-jackson/), he pointed out that the Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. by a French abolitionist who wanted to celebrate the end of slavery in the U.S. upon our nation’s centennial in 1876. National and international policies, according to Jackson, needed to be governed by common moral standard of fairness and respect.

What would Jesse want us to do now that he is gone?  The answer is simple and complex. In countless conversations I’ve had with Rev. Jackson over the years, the constant refrain was “Build the Rainbow, Keep Organizing.”  He meant it literally in the sense of getting people to become dues paying members of Rainbow PUSH, which has always had a vibrant presence in Chicago but less so around the country.  As great an analyst, strategist, and orator Jesse was, sustaining a chapter-based national organization was not one of his strengths.  The startling success of his two presidential campaigns was due to local folks building a campaign from the ground up with volunteer labor. Making the transition from a campaign to an ongoing organization has been a challenge for many progressive candidates. It requires major fundraising to hire staff, mount local and state campaigns, and maintain an organization’s visibility to the public.

Today, the Rainbow Coalition concept is more relevant than ever before.  The mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani echoed the best elements of Jackson’s winning formula:  a dynamic, articulate leader, a powerful message of affordability and empowerment of working people, a huge volunteer army to spread the message, a broad multiracial and cross-class coalition, and sufficient public funding.

Volunteers gather for canvassing in Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Mamdani campaign 2025.

At the national level, there is a positive development as well. Over 120 labor, community, and activist organizations have joined together to form the Battleground Alliance to campaign for Democrats and progressives in 30 congressional districts.  Flipping the U.S. House will be one important way to pressure and block the Trump administration.

Jesse Jackson always implored us to protect voting rights and to expand the electorate because political power is one way to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of a more equal and just society. The power of the vote is eminently recognized by the rightwing and thus they enact more and more barriers to voting and eventually to citizenship. Today, Democrats face a dismal loss of voters. According to a New York Times study released on Aug. 20, 205,  Democrats lost about 2.1 million registered voters between the 2020 and 2024 elections in the 30 states, along with Washington, D.C., that allow people to register with a political party. (In the remaining 20 states, voters do not register with a political party.) Republicans gained 2.4 million…All four presidential battleground states covered by the Times analysis — Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — showed significant Democratic erosion.

Friends, we cannot hope our way into power. And sadly, the centrist dominated Democratic leadership cannot inspire people to embrace the Democratic Party.  But all is not lost because people vote for candidates more so than parties. Thus, the future Jackson envisioned rests with progressive candidates like Mamdani who can inspire people with a vision that is based on values of inclusion and equality.

What is the last thing that Jesse would want us to do?  Never give up hope.  Keep Hope Alive was not just a catchy slogan for Jesse, it was his credo. It guided his life from humble beginning in Greenville, South Carolina to the national and international stage.  One never loses completely when one struggles, but one always loses when they never struggle.

We need hope now more than ever to fuel us in the tough times ahead.

As I scroll through social media and the news, I see that Rev. Jackson’s death has brought an outpouring of memorials from everyday people who were electrified by Jackson’s “I Am Somebody” exhortations in a high school gym to noted politicians and analysts. I highly recommend Robert Borsage’s essay in The Nation, Feb. 18, 2026 – https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/jesse-jackson-legacy-impact/

I also want to share the following remembrances by friends who were active in the Jesse Jackson for President campaigns of 1984 and 1988.  Jesse is gone but he will never be forgotten. The torch is now in the hands of the next generation.

Jesse Opened a Rainbow Path Forward, Now We Must Build And Walk A New Road

By Carl Davidson

LeftLinks Newsweekly, Feb 20, 2026

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the formidable leader of both the civil rights movement and the U.S. left, has passed on. All those familiar with his health situation were not caught unaware, but we were saddened nonetheless.

Jesse, or ‘The Rev’ to close workers and friends, left deep impressions on all of us and the entire country. Tributes to his impact on our time are appearing everywhere. Jesse was ‘a force of nature’, insisting on giving us agency with ‘I am somebody!’ chanted by millions. And by insisting on our agency, he kept hope alive.

I won’t attempt to sum up, in this short space, Jesse’s profound impact on the country and the world. Others will do that far better than I. Instead, I will just tell my personal stories.

I can’t recall the first time I met Jesse. But, like many longtime Chicago activists, our paths crossed dozens of times on common projects in our local peace and justice movements and in Chicago’s elections. From time to time, on a Saturday or Sunday, I would also make my way to his South Side church, Operation PUSH, just to hear a sermon and listen to the choir and the music. I was always uplifted.

Rev. Jackson once invited me to PUSH to receive an award, along with 10 others, who had a hand in registering a large number of new registered voters—in my case, 20,000—and I found out I was the sole white guy up front. All the others had faced greater difficulties. It was humbling.

But I got to know Jesse in a few unique ways. In my early years as an instructor and grad student in philosophy at the University of Nebraska, I had hooked up with a number of left-wing farmers, especially Merle Hansen of the North American Farm Alliance. Merle and I stayed in contact over the years, and when Jesse was building his ‘rainbow,’ Merle suggested we work together to get Jesse out to farmers, and we did.

I’ll never forget one evening in Western Iowa where Merle, Jesse, and I went into a barn with some 50 farmers eager to hear Jesse. They weren’t disappointed. As a Minister of the Gospel, Jesse knew exactly how to speak to this group, and when he was done, it was a standing ovation without a dry eye in the barn.

Rev. Jackson sits with farmers in Iowa during 1988 primary campaign. Jack O’dell, advisor to Rev. Jackson, next to Jesse. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

‘When farmers get radical,’ Merle explained to me, ‘they go one way or the other, not too many in the middle. Some will go with the right and the anti-Semites. And some will go with Jesse and the Rainbow.’ As a result of the effort, we put the ‘green’ stripe in the rainbow flag.

A few months later, I got another call from Merle. ‘How would you like to be a delegate to the Farmers and Ranchers Congress in St Louis? Jesse will be there, and about 10,000 delegates. My Chicago comrade, Ivan Handler, and I were on the road in a flash, up for a powerful experience for both of us. I also gathered material for a pamphlet I was working on, ‘Blood on the Plow,’ plus we got to hear a great concert with Willie Nelson, and I made my way to shake Willie’s hand, too!

We then headed to the crowded hotel bar, where I ended up standing between Merle and Jesse. How was that for a peak experience, meeting Willie and hanging with Jesse that same night!

I had another somewhat amusing experience. My group at the time, the League of Revolutionary Struggle, was heavily engaged in Jesse’s campaign. Jesse built his Black base and won over Chicago Latinos, but the LRS brought in many of the other nationalities—Filipino-Americans, Chinese-Americans, and so on. My LRS local leader in Chicago was holding a campaign meeting with Jesse’s key Puerto Rican ally, Luis Gutierrez, at her house. She told me to write up a ‘talking points’ memo on how Jesse would win the national election. ‘Are you kidding?’ I asked. ‘I doubt even Jesse thinks that.’ No, she said, ‘that’s the line. Get to work. I need it it a few hours’ So I turned to all my research files and clippings, and stretched out the most optimistic (and some unlikely) string of wins along the way that ended with Jesse in the White House.

It got over, sort of, in her packed living room. Luis asked me later, laughing, ‘Davidson, remind me to call you when I have a tough argument to spin!, I laughed in return. But in a way, the memo had served a purpose that evening. The talking points challenged us to think outside the box at times and that the future was always open.

Another point worth noting: My friend Ivan, mentioned above, was an early computer guy, and with a small assist from me, he went to work organizing the best use of networked portable computers at the convention site for Jesse. It was a big deal then, even if today it’s all easily done in a Signal room on Smartphones. But then? Even Newsweek reported that Jackson had the best computer networks of anyone else running.

My antiwar ‘co-conspirator’ and close friend, Marilyn Katz (peace be upon her), was also close to Jesse, and a ‘force of nature’ in her own right. She had him help us in many ways in building the anti-Iraq war movement in Chicago, including getting Obama involved. Rev. Jackson was very helpful in working with us to get the Chicago City Council to vote twice against the war, both before it started and after it was underway.

Some on the left were critical of Jesse for pulling his part of the Rainbow back into Operation Push locally, forgoing a lasting national organization. I’m not among them. Jesse always told us, ‘My job is to shake the cherries from the trees. Your job is to gather up the harvest.’

But we were weak in doing so. We overemphasized our role as ‘building a movement,’ rather than building base organizations within movements, a subtle but important difference. As a result, when the campaigns and the voting ended, it all evaporated. We had a small number of new LRS recruits, but nothing like what we might have had with a better approach on our part, not Jesse’s part. Keep this in mind in the upcoming ‘No Kings’ and other events going forward.

Rev. Jesse Jackson will be missed. He had a large impact on the left of our country, and his insistence on our agency from below made waves that are still moving outward, in ever-wider circles, now in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Peace be upon him as well. Keep hope alive!

Latino community rally for Rev. Jackson in Milwaukee, WS in April 1988. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

Jesse Jackson Through the Lens

By Ben Ferris

Theater Opening of the film “Selma.”

I was asked to take photos at this event. Jesse gave a powerful and somber recap of the

movie urging everyone to continue organizing for justice. He answered questions from folks in

the audience and his presence was applauded by all.

Even his shadow projected on the movie screen evoked his strength in public speaking for me.

Back in the 1980’s, I’d been assigned to cover many of Reverend Jackson’s events. We

processed my film and what other photographers as well had sent in from following Jesse’s

activities. Then we made selected prints and halftones for publication in Unity newspaper. It

was a united front undertaking, a lot of which was volunteer effort. This work was undertaken

in the darkroom with music from a radio turned on, digital cameras and computer graphics

hadn’t yet made it into our world. The film would be subjected to a bag of photographer’s

special treatments; wet chemistry shaken, stirred, agitated with precision, prints dodged and

burned according to taste, to help make the photos lively.

This corresponded to other work being done for the paper; the organization, writing and

editing of articles; proofreading because we are human and sometimes made mistakes or

could write in a better way; typesetting, page layout and composition and then the

scheduling of the publishing/printing. A lot of work to produce a publication that bore witness

to the mass of people who’d turned out for Jesse or might become interested in voting for

him and the issues he focussed on.

Jesse’s ability to carry the day, connecting with the common people from different walks of

life and the media who were documenting his experiences, was always impressive.

Journalists covering the events had to keep up with him and be ready for the spontaneous

interactions that would inevitably happen (“capture the moment”) that he would intuitively

immerse us into. He treated journalists with respect and his replies to their questions were

delivered with serious eloquence and deftness. You knew he was in his element as a

responsive political leader. Reverend Jackson will be missed and his soul will be carried

further, inspiring future generations of leaders who will be needed to carry on the cause for

civil rights and indeed for that of democracy itself.

UC Berkeley get out the vote rally 1988, Unity Archive photo.

Remembrance of Jesse Jackson

by Susan Hayase

Rev. Jesse Jackson was rooted in the history of the people of the United States and the many, many struggles for justice and equality and compassion and care. When he spoke, many of us felt the deep emotion of relief at his seeing us as we see ourselves and the joy of hope in a future in which we will all be visible, respected, and cared for and a future of basic human rights and expanding civil liberties. I’m so grateful for his leadership and strength. I also remember that he was the only presidential candidate to back the passage of redress/reparations legislation for the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans.

In the NCRR (National Coalition for Redress/Reparations for Japanese American incarcerees during WWII) in San Jose, California, we were organizing the grassroots community following, among other things, a principle of unity stating that we would support the struggles of other oppressed peoples. This meant that we went into the broader community and met the people fighting for immigrants’ rights (Raza Si community organization), fighting against racism in the criminal justice system (SJ/SV NAACP), fighting against U.S. imperialism in Central America (CISPES – committee in support of the people of El Salvador), for labor rights and dignity (Watsonville Cannery strikers), and for broad unity among progressive forces (the South Bay Rainbow Coalition.)  And significantly, we also became a part of the statewide Asian Americans for Jesse Jackson in his 1984 and 1988 presidential primary campaigns.

I remember volunteering for “security detail” during Rev. Jackson’s visit to Independence High School in San Jose.  The young students’ attention was riveted on Jesse when, instead of patronizing them or talking down to them, he asked: “how many of you know someone who’s been killed by gun violence?”  Too many raised their hands.  And he stirred us all with his chant “I am…somebody.  I may be poor, but I am somebody” and on and on describing all of us, seeing deep into us.  I felt so moved that I joined the line of students waiting as he passed through the crowd in hopes of shaking his hand.

Remembrance of Jesse Jackson

By Larry Hendel

I was part of Northern California Labor for Jackson and also a Jackson delegate to the 1988 convention in Atlanta. Rev. Jackson’s emphasis on working people was astonishing, especially coming from a serious contender for the presidency. For example, he spoke to thousands of steelworkers and supporters at a 10,000 person rally at the POSCO steel plant in Pittsburg, California, protesting the use of non-union construction workers at the plant. What other candidate would have challenged corporate heavyweights such as US Steel? He spoke to farmworkers in the central valley and went to the bedside of Cesar Chavez who was in the midst of a 36-day hunger strike in Delano, California. His rally in the small, agricultural town of McFarland, where agribusiness had poisoned the environment with pesticides, was a first-of-its kind event in the town of 14,000 people.

In the 1988 Democratic primary Rev. Jackson got almost seven million votes and came in second behind Michael Dukakis. He received far more votes than any other Black candidate until Obama, and far more than the punditocracy predicted. It was all the more remarkable because he did not compromise on his progressive principles.  His support for workers was unequivocal. He supported gay rights. He was prochoice. When others on the campaign trail were emphasizing how tough they’d be on crime, he brought the issue back to lack of opportunity for marginalized communities and did not shy away from protesting police brutality. He pushed hard for nuclear disarmament. At a time when unqualified support for Israel was a third rail for all American politicians, Democratic or Republican, he openly supported the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and fought to have Palestinian rights included in the party platform at the 1988 convention.

Rev. Jackson stands with striking International Paper Company mill workers in Jay, Maine, on October 31, 1987. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

At his rallies he was the main attraction but unlike other campaigns, he used the rallies to shine a light on local struggles. If workers were on strike, the campaign brought them to speak and talk to the media—not just the union officials but the workers themselves. Peace activists and representatives from communities of color were featured on stage. His energy was boundless. Every time he said, “keep hope alive,” a chill went down our spines.  Hopefully with his passing more young leaders and activists will study his life and carry his message into the struggles ahead.

RIP Reverend Jesse  Jackson, forever a friend of Japanese Americans

By David Monkawa

African American international civil rights activist and diplomat Rev. Jesse Jackson died at the age of 84.

Jackson ran for president twice in the 1980s. His “Rainbow Coalition” people’s platform led a pushback against “Reaganomics”, (called the Washington Consensus or neo-liberalism) which some Democrats began to adopt. An important Jackson plank was national health insurance for all, later adopted by Sen. Bernie Sanders as “Medicare-for-All”.

In 1984, he was the only presidential candidate to visit Little Tokyo and speak out for redress and reparations for Japanese Americans.

He returned to L.A. in 1992 after the Rodney King uprisings and addressed the tension between Koreans and Blacks.

In 1995, he returned to Little Tokyo to support redress for Chinese slave laborers kidnapped during WW2 by Kajima Corp. the owners of the then New Otani Hotel.

This helped to pressure the hotel to agree to unionization by it’s workers. His most familiar slogan is sorely needed now, “Keep hope alive!”

Asian Americans for Jesse Jackson Rally May 1984 in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

Rest-in-Power Jesse!

By Joyce Nakamura

I lived in San Jose during the 1984 and 1988 Jesse Jackson for President campaigns.

In 1984, I, along with other like-minded Japanese American supporters of Jesse, worked together with the African American community on the campaign.  I remember going to Black churches for the first time and other joint activities that built relationships between the two communities during the ‘84 campaign.  When Melvin Truss, a 17-year-old African American youth was murdered by a San Jose police officer, we came together in the Justice for Melvin Truss Committee.

Because of the work in the ‘84 campaign, in 1988, we had a strong Jesse Jackson for President campaign, with united Japanese Americans and African Americans at its base.  Chicanos for Jesse Jackson formed in San Jose.  The Arab American community also enthusiastically joined the campaign.  Jesse spoke at Independence High School in San Jose, on the Eastside, which had a big impact with Jesse’s call to “Keep Hope Alive” and to build a “Rainbow.”

We joined Jesse when he marched with the United Farm Workers, together with cannery workers.  I, along with other Asian Americans, was a part of Asian Americans for Jesse Jackwon.  Jesse was the first presidential candidate to speak in San Francisco Chinatown and the only candidate who lifted up the case of Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death because his ex-autoworker murderers thought he was Japanese, a competitor of the US auto industry.

The San Jose JJ campaign carried out an aggressive door-to-door Get-out-the-Vote canvas, and Jesse won the East Side of San Jose!!!!  We sent two Chicana delegates to the National Democratic Convention, where Jesse was introduced by Mabel Teng from Asian Americans for Jackson!  This is what inclusion looks like, this is what democracy looks like, this is what Rainbow Power looks like!

The Jesse Jackson for President campaign was a historic campaign, building multi-racial unity for years going forward to today, which is so desperately needed to fight fascism and for democracy.  We need a Presidential candidate who can focus on this base and learn the powerful lesson of the Jackson campaign to inspire the Rainbow.

Keep Hope Alive! I am SOMEBODY! Rainbow Power!

Rev. Jackson at rally with striking Watsonville Cannery workers, 1987. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

Remembrance of Rev. Jesse Jackson

By Mark Prudowsky

I had worked on Chicago’s two historic mayoral campaigns which Harold Washington won in both 1983 and 1987. Along with many others in the labor movement, I volunteered to work on Reverend Jackson’s two equally historic presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. In the later, I worked among fellow members of the United Steelworkers of America to build support for Jackson’s primary campaign in Ohio. A member of a steelworker local in Chicago, I and hundreds of co-workers experienced first hand how Reagan’s pro-corporate attacks on unions impacted not just steelworker families, but whole communities when our press-making facility was shuttered. Not confined to the plant where we worked in a western Chicago suburb, the attacks reverberated throughout the steel belt—in southeast Chicago and neighboring Gary, Indiana; in Lackawanna, New York; in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; in Wheeling, West Virginia and in all the small rust-belt towns that relied on steel to survive—whole communities were being decimated. The hunger among all those affected for someone to speak frankly about the devastation was palpable. The anti-labor policies which greenlighted an onslaught of forced labor concessions, union busting and plant closings were destroying once thriving communities and a way of life. In 1988, the only candidate telling it straight was Reverend Jackson.

An event took place in a Berea, Ohio backyard. Berea was an all-white suburb of Cleveland as segregated as any community in the United States. Unlike other campaign appearances where hundreds filled union halls to hear Jackson, this one was designed to be small and intimate, involving thirty steelworkers, all of them white.He arrived two hours late, visibly exhausted and asked those present to sit with him in a circle around a fire pit. In a quiet voice, he asked each of them their name, how long they had been members of the steelworkers, what most concerned them and their families. He remained there for more than two hours, mostly listening, occasionally answering questions about ways the country could restore jobs in steel.

In a previous era, before the steel companies began shuttering their union plants, I doubt many of those present that night would have entertained the notion of voting for a Black man for president. In the days following, I contacted the men who’d been there. It was apparent Reverend Jackson had an impact. While I’ll never know precisely how many voted for him in the primary, some of them did. He placed second overall in a crowded field.

Alone among all the Democrats, he succeeded by daring to envision a society where corporate greed would not be allowed to decimate entire communities.

By Jamala Rogers – Reposted  from the New Liberator with author’s permission.

Rev. Jesse Jackson was undeniably a transformative civil rights figure. He was charismatic, strategic, and analytical. For those of us who were in organizing spaces with the reverend, we also saw another dimension of the iconic leader.

Rev. Jackson’s ambition for recognition and influence matched his dedication to racial equity and economic justice. He maintained a healthy balance between the two and for the most part, avoided being labeled a “movement opportunist.” Sometimes the label was inescapable, like when he came to Ferguson, Missouri, during the uprising after the murder of young Mike Brown. However, during the Ferguson uprising after Mike Brown’s murder, some young activists criticized his visit as self-serving. Actually, Jackson had been asked to lead the fundraising effort at a particular event. Jackson was pretty adept with the ole Baptist church practice of raising monies by denominations: If you have $1000, come forward. If you have $500, and on down to $5. I saw him raise thousands of dollars using this method.

Jackson understood how to motivate people and move them in a strategic direction. He was an eloquent speaker and astute at taking complex concepts and rolling them into language that the masses could understand. Jesse already knew what he would say, how to say it, and what its impact would be.

My fondest memories of Jesse Jackson are from his 1988 presidential run on Super Tuesday. As a member of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (LRS) and a contributor to its newspaper Unity, I spent six weeks with a fellow LRS member, a professional photographer, traveling through the southern region as part of the campaign’s advance team. The LRS was heavily invested and involved in both Jackson’s presidential campaigns and the Rainbow Coalition.

Students rally at Clark College, Atlanta for Rev. Jesse Jackson. April 1988. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

As a journalist/organizer, I embedded myself in communities to capture the vital work of dedicated volunteers who tirelessly registered voters, educated the public on critical issues, planned fundraisers, and implemented security-conscious Get Out The Vote efforts (GOTV).

Two key organizing lessons I learned during that Super Tuesday stint. I recall asking Ms. Mabel, one of the team leaders, why they were not wearing Jackson buttons. Anyone who knows me knows that I proudly wear my political T-shirts and buttons to raise awareness. She explained that they needed to be able to move freely through the community without being targeted by the local white power structure. After all, it was the South, with its ugly history of racial terrorism against Black voters. I witnessed firsthand what true organizing looks like in oppressive political conditions and the unspoken realities of second-class citizenship that persistently shape these communities. Lesson (re)learned: Understand the material conditions you face in a given situation so that you use the appropriate organizing tactics.

It was fascinating to watch Jesse Jackson in his element. I saw volunteers puff up with pride when he thanked them for their efforts. He convinced them that they were part of something bigger. When there were multiracial teams, especially if there was going to be a photo opportunity, I watched him literally rearrange bodies so that the image would reflect a visual rainbow, not just a hodge-podge of people grouped together by race and gender. Lesson learned: A rainbow coalition is about both image and substance.

A significant part of Jesse Jackson’s legacy is the acknowledgment that organizing the multiracial working class was critical to winning political power under U.S. capitalism. The need for a national strategy that embraces the principles of a rainbow coalition is still relevant. Radicals and progressive reformists have been given the groundwork and the framework for achieving multinational unity through the electoral arena. Now it’s time to intensify the work—and keep hope alive.

Farewell, Rev. Jackson

By Ellen Griffith Spears.

To reflect upon the passing of civil rights legend Rev. Jesse Jackson is no small task. He had such a profound and wide-ranging impact on our country and, like many of us, a meaningful impact upon my family. For many decades, Rev. Jackson’s campaigns, and the movements that he highlighted and supported, were an integral part of political activism in the South. I had the honor of being a Jackson delegate to the Democratic Party conventions in 1984 and 1988 along with serving as a state co-chair for the Georgia Jackson campaign in 1988.

His influence on us was reflected in ways great and small. With the 1988 campaign swirling around us, my daughter turned eight. Unprompted, she created a poster with the image of a white child and a Black child reaching out to hold hands bearing the words, “JESSE JACKSON IS GOING TO WIN.”

Jesse did win. He swept the Georgia primary in 1988, almost doubling his share of the vote from 1984 (21 percent) to win a plurality (nearly 40 percent) of Democratic primary voters, including a modest but significant number of white voters. In fact, Jackson did so well in southern primaries that any other candidate would have been declared the inevitable Democratic nominee.

One standout moment in Jackson’s efforts in Georgia was a visit to a Catholic Church in Marietta, then a majority white city, where he preached the same message of hope and justice he was delivering in Black churches across the state, to hearty applause.

Looking back to some of the campaign documents from that year surfaced an excerpt from a September 1987 talk I gave at the Atlanta University Center Philosophical Society.

“Why Jesse Jackson in ’88?

“He’s the greatest statesman, an accomplished diplomat [having just brought Lt. Goodman home], unmatched orator, brilliant strategist, yet he remains in touch with the needs of people. In the Democratic Party, he’s the only experienced presidential candidate [then running. He has the] best stands on the issues – on halting the arms race and establishing a sensible foreign policy, a balanced trade policy, and a decent program for farmers.

“He is the only candidate whose candidacy has the possibility of altering the electorate, of changing who chooses, who decides, who rules.”

Campaign documents from that era stress that the campaigns were never only about Rev. Jackson winning the presidency, though that was indeed that goal. Central, too, was the importance of strengthening the Black political base, with reapportionment approaching in 1990. The tens of thousands of Black voters across the South that Rev. Jackson had motivated in 1984 had already succeeded in providing the critical margin of victory for five white Democrats elected to the U.S. Senate from southern states.[1]

After the campaign, Rev. Jackson urged us, “You need to go pick up the keys,” by which he meant not to be afraid of taking hold of the seats of power, securing leadership spots within the Democratic Party and positions in local and state government. Hundreds of candidates took up the call. His run for the presidency and the voters registered in those campaigns laid the basis for victories for Black and progressive candidates in southern states at every level. In Georgia alone, he work laid the basis for the statewide victory by Michael Thurmond as Labor Commissioner, remarkable showings by Stacey Abrams in successive gubernatorial races, and wins in State Senate and House races, mayorships, county commissions, and city councils too numerous to count. And, as is only now being widely acknowledged, his vision and audacious action helped make possible President Barack Obama’s wins.

Cesar Chavez passes the cross to Rev. Jackson at fast to stop pesticides, Delano, CA. August 21, 1988. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

At this moment of national crisis, we are feeling deeply the losses, among them the absence of this great leader. As we reach out to support the extended Jackson family, reflecting on these victories is one way to celebrate his legacy. We must move forward with hope and bold action to secure the multiracial democracy he worked so hard to achieve.

[1] Sen. Wyche Fowler from Georgia, Sen. Richard Shelby from Alabama, Sen. John Breaux from Louisiana, Sen. Terry Sanford in North Carolina, and Sen. Bob Graham in Florida.

REVEREND

By Chet Whye

I was sent to Denver in the ’80s as an aerospace missile engineer representing the Baltimore division of what was then Martin Marietta—now Lockheed Martin. What I did not know then was that the rocket launched in Denver had not a damn thing to do with aerospace.

In 1988, I joined the Jesse Jackson for President campaign. With Reverend J. Langston Boyd and treasured colleagues like Joe Navarro and Frank Sullivan, we built a huge coalition campaign that we took from the big cities to the remote ranches, capturing the imagination of the entire state. Colorado had a Black population of only 4%, yet Reverend Jackson and our “patchwork quilt” garnered 40% of the vote.

Jesse Jackson nationally received 7 million votes while winning seven primaries and four caucuses in ’88. We lost the Democratic nomination that summer in Atlanta, but the changes that Reverend leveraged changed the game in fundamental ways, ultimately leading to the Obama presidency. Reverend challenged winner-take-all primaries that favored frontrunners to ensure that candidates received delegates proportional to their vote share. He demanded the “Big Tent” policy that structured and landed broader inclusivity.

When Reverend Jackson decided who would coordinate the National Rainbow Coalition in Colorado, Joe Navarro suggested me.

What most don’t understand is that Reverend Jackson’s mentorship was always more pastoral than political. Reverend taught me that people don’t just need you to be good—they need you to be good and good to them. He didn’t just teach me this ethos; he grounded me in it as I watched him interact with everyday people. We’d be racing through the airport to board a flight, and when some astonished passerby would say his name, he would stop to give a quick hug.

I remember having breakfast in the Chicago Hilton with Reverend and Polly Baca. The waitress who brought his cereal was shaking like a leaf. He stopped talking, rose from the table, and just held her until she calmed down. He would give addresses in hotel ballrooms, and the maids and janitors would give up their lunch breaks to stand in the rear just to hear him. Reverend always acknowledged them directly from the podium. He was the epitome of Rudyard Kipling’s “If.”

His message was: if you are truly serving your people, then you must be the servant. That wisdom was echoed by Reverend’s longtime friend, my own beloved pastor, Rev. J. Langston Boyd of Shorter A.M.E. Church in Denver. The two of them, like a 1-2 punch, constantly worked me so that my moral compass was the true driver of my decisions and the empowering wind at my back. I was blessed to have their direction and their care. They, by example, configured my political DNA.

But Reverend Jackson had me at, “I am somebody.” With just three words, Reverend launched a direct confrontation to the psychological impact of racism and poverty in America by igniting a forest fire of personal dignity.

Latinos for Jackson Contingent at immigrant rights march in Los Angeles against Simpson-Mazzoli bill, June 1984. Photo courtesy of Unity Archive.

Conventional politicians have teams build pages of policy and spend millions on pumping out advertising. Yet, a phrase empowers. Candidates for political office have teams drumming up policy pages that lay out green energy, poverty, education, inclusion, finance, and justice. But Reverend showed us it was better to have a coalition that connected all of those working elements, enlisting the people who drive those individual campaigns to blend expertise and energy into a political force that delivers.

The Jackson ’88 coalitions built in every state did not immediately fade away post-election. Those in-place networks redirected as a crucial element of winning campaigns around the nation, resulting in an explosion of Black mayors in major cities. David Dinkins was elected as the first Black mayor of New York City and Norman Rice of Seattle in 1989. The great Wellington Webb walked in sneakers from 7% to a landslide to be elected mayor of Denver in 1991 with Jackson ’88 alums (including me) in tow. Dennis Archer was elected mayor of Detroit and Bill Campbell was mayor of Atlanta in 1993. The blast of Jackson ’88 propelled a reconstruction of national power that historians must not ignore. Jesse Jackson is arguably the most consequential figure in the elevation of Black political power in America. Obama’s “Yes We Can” was “Keep Hope Alive” with social media and laptops instead of fax machines and clipboards.

I spent the rest of my Denver years in service of The National Rainbow Coalition. That calling card enabled me to become the President of the Colorado Black Roundtable, an award-winning political op-ed columnist for the Denver Post, and Chairman of Denver’s Public Safety Review Commission. After I moved to New York City, I was arrested on March 26, 1999, with Reverend Jackson by Rudy Giuliani’s NYPD as we marched with Rev. Sharpton to block the entrance to police headquarters to protest the killing of Amadou Diallo.

My service resume is long, and the fire is still lit. I have watched Reverend serve his entire life, and I see him as the prototype.

On July 8, 2023, I was in Chicago to see Reverend on the day he retired as president of the National Rainbow Coalition. We had a reunion of leaders from his ’88 national presidential campaign. When I rose to speak, I asked the Democratic Party to do one thing for Jesse Jackson: I asked for Reverend Jackson to be tributed at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. I asked that they give him that moment to go before that vast assembly of operatives and look out into the faces of thousands of people in political power who were inspired by him, who worked with him, and who came through him. He deserved that moment.

Reverend Jackson now belongs to the ages. We have become the custodians of his mission to genuinely democratize the Democratic Party. We have become the custodians of his declaration that “Politics can be a moral arena where people come together to find common ground.”

Reverend may have stepped back from the stage, but he left us with something to do:

Keep hope alive.

Featured Photo:

Photo from WBEZ radio of the July 15, 2023 Rainbow PUSH Forum, celebrating the Jesse Jackson for President campaigns of 1984 and 1988.