There was ‘a bridge called Jesse Jackson’ across decades of civil rights advocacy

From the moment the Rev. Jesse Jackson stepped forward to carry the torch of the civil rights movement, he created a crucial bridge connecting struggles across America’s racial divide. His death on Tuesday at age 84 marks the end of a remarkable journey that spanned from the streets of the segregated South to the corridors of political power.

“From Martin Luther King to Barack Obama, there’s a bridge called Jesse Jackson,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said, capturing the historic significance of Jackson’s life and legacy.

Jackson, who was a protégé of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., maintained his public advocacy for racial justice, economic inclusion, and human rights for more than half a century. Even as he battled a debilitating neurological disorder in his later years that affected his mobility and speech, Jackson remained an influential voice in American civil rights discourse.

Throughout his decades of activism, Jackson built a career that included groundbreaking presidential campaigns, international diplomacy efforts, and significant contributions to how Americans discuss racial identity. He consistently positioned himself at the forefront of struggles for equality, from protests against police brutality to COVID-19 vaccination drives aimed at overcoming hesitancy in Black communities.

“We’ve always had a place for him,” said the Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and one of many activists inspired by Jackson’s example. Jackson often encouraged followers to “live life so that it’s not your alarm clock that awakes you in the morning, but a purpose.”

Jackson’s resonant voice remained powerful even in his final years. At George Floyd’s memorial service, his emotional cry of “I can’t breathe!” pierced the silence, symbolizing how long Floyd had suffered under a police officer’s knee. Jackson later stood with Floyd’s family when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder.

“I think the fact that he came and then came back for the judge’s verdict, suffering with Parkinson’s, shows the determination that Jesse Jackson had all the way to the end,” Sharpton noted about his longtime mentor.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson worked to address racial disparities in healthcare. He received the vaccine publicly and partnered with the National Medical Association on initiatives to improve testing and treatment data while recruiting more African Americans to the medical field.

“It’s America’s unfinished business — we’re free, but not equal,” Jackson told The Associated Press in 2020. “There’s a reality check that has been brought by the coronavirus, that exposes the weakness and the opportunity.”

Jackson was not without critics, both within and outside the Black community. Some viewed him as a grandstander too eager for media attention. He drew controversy for his presence in photographs taken moments after King’s assassination in 1968, where he later appeared wearing a turtleneck he said was stained with King’s blood.

Nevertheless, Jackson made history with his presidential campaigns. Until Barack Obama’s election in 2008, Jackson was the most successful Black candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988, four years after his first attempt.

“I was able to run for the presidency twice and redefine what was possible; it raised the lid for women and other people of color,” Jackson reflected in 2011. “Part of my job was to sow seeds of the possibilities.”

Jackson’s cultural impact extended beyond politics. In 1988, he was among leaders who advocated for the term “African Americans,” establishing an identity that acknowledged both heritage and citizenship. As founder of Operation PUSH (later Rainbow/PUSH Coalition), he pressured corporate executives to create more equitable opportunities for Black Americans.

Born Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, to an unmarried high school student, Jackson’s early life reflected the challenges of his era. He played quarterback in high school and attended North Carolina A&T after transferring from the University of Illinois when he was reportedly told Black people couldn’t play quarterback.

In college, Jackson became involved in the civil rights movement, eventually meeting King during the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference tasked Jackson with launching Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, a campaign to increase Black employment opportunities.

Jackson’s constant campaigning often left his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, whom he married in 1963, to raise their five children. The family included future politicians Jesse L. Jackson Jr. and Jonathan Luther Jackson. In later years, Jackson acknowledged fathering a child with a Rainbow/PUSH employee.

While Jackson’s powerful voice inspired many, his words sometimes sparked controversy. In 1984, he apologized for referring to New York City as “Hymietown,” a derogatory reference to the city’s Jewish population. Despite occasional tensions with Obama’s 2008 campaign, Jackson wept openly at the victory celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park.

“I wish for a moment that Dr. King or Medgar Evers could’ve just been there for 30 seconds to see the fruits of their labor,” he later told the AP. “I became overwhelmed. It was the joy and the journey.”