Church leaders mourn the loss of the Rev. Jesse Jackson
The Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate is remembered as an iconic figure in the fight for social equality.
The Civil Rights Movement is mourning the loss of a giant.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a lifelong fighter for racial and economic justice died at the age of 84.
Local faith leaders in Brooklyn reacted to his passing and reflected on his impact.
He was an icon in the Civil Rights Movement, and his death has impacted people near and far.
“He echoed the centuries of our people's determination and perseverance,” said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry. “That no matter what you do to us, no matter how you beat us down, we’re going to keep hope alive and hope will keep us alive.”
The Rev. Herbert Daughtry spent years alongside the Rev. Jackson on the front lines, including trips to South Africa together, fighting against apartheid to "Operation Breadbasket" under Dr. Martin Luther King and being right by his side during both presidential runs.
Even at age 84, the loss of his friend is still hard to believe.
“I thought it was a nightmare. You think of Jesse as the indestructible one,” said the Rev. Herbert.
The influence of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is still felt through many generations after him.
The Rev. Dr. Rashad Raymond Moore, of First Baptist Church of Crown Heights, is living proof.
“For my generation, we did not get the opportunity to know Dr. King as so many luminaries of the civil rights movement,” said the Rev. Dr. Rashad Raymond Moore. “The thing about Rev. Jackson's presence was that he was there in the movement. Growing up in Brooklyn, I still remember being able to hear Rev. Jackson preach at the first AME church. So, for so many of us, we had an opportunity to touch someone. He was a living artifact of that period in time.”
Whether it’s his push for voting rights, workers’ rights, racial equality, or economic opportunity through his PUSH coalition —- the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is one of many layers.
“I will go back to those quotes,” said Dr. Moore. “Keep hope alive, and I will go back to ‘I am somebody'. Listening to Jesse was not just listening to a political speech. Listening to Jesse was to be injected with a spirit of power, of hope, of pride that would make you want to go out and to look to the hills to see what the end would be.”
Jackson's death marks the end of an era, but not the end of the fight.
