Tribute to Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-2026)

2026-02-27 - 05:07

The Reverend Jesse Jackson established his eternal iconography when he leveraged his Rainbow-PUSH coalition to the Democratic National Convention in 1984, coming third behind Walter Mondale and Gary Hart in the race for the party’s presidential ticket. He also stood in 1989. He was regarded as the very heartbeat of American conscience. With his passing on February 17, 2026 at the age of 84, America and the Black world lost the bridge that connected the Jim Crow era of racial segregation and today when the Blacks are no longer strangers to even the White House itself. Jackson was a protégé of giants, but he stood tall in his own right. The impetus for his journey was forged in the fires of the 1960s, standing alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. While others retreated after King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, Jackson pushed ahead, buoyed by a belief that becoming somebody was a birthright for the marginalised. He stood for the “Rainbow Coalition”—a radical assertion that the poor of all colours, the working class, and the alienated, shared a common destiny. His trajectory was a master class in political architecture. When he ran for president in 1984 and 1988, he wasn’t just campaigning for an office; he was expanding the map of the possible. He proved that a Black man could not only win states like Michigan but also force the American political machine to reckon with shooting stars from the margins. It is no exaggeration to say that without the precedence of Jesse Jackson, there would have been no President Barack Obama. Jackson registered the voters, built the infrastructure, and—most importantly—broke the psychological barriers that had long suggested the White House was off-limits for the non-White. He slayed the myth and shifted the Black American community from being a mere voting bloc to becoming the very king makers of the Democratic Party and American politics in general. As the family prepares for his final arrangements through the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition, America pauses, so does the Black world. We brace to see a home-going service in Chicago that will be a gathering of world leaders, activists, and the common folk he championed so fiercely. Reverend Jackson encouraged us to “Keep Hope Alive” when the nights are darkest. He marched until his legs grew weary and spoke until his voice, once an instrument of justice, was silenced by the passage of time. He has finished the race; he has kept the faith. Let us, here in Nigeria and Africa, be also inspired to always keep hope alive and never be easily discouraged though darkness hangs over our democracy, national security and economic well-being. After the darkest night surely comes the glorious dawn. But, first, we must push the rainbow!