To this day, I still remember when I saw a Newsweek Magazine on the coffee table of my uncle’s living room with a picture of Jesse Jackson with the words, “What Makes Jesse Run?” This was near the end of 1983 and Jackson had just announced he was going to run for the Democratic Nomination for President. I had recognized his name from history class and I was intrigued by the question on the front of magazine. As I read the article I learned that nobody thought he could win the nomination and he would probably hurt the front runner, Walter Mondale, by splitting the Black vote. They mentioned that the positive thing about him running was that he would register lots of new Black voters and energize these voters to come out and vote in 1984. The message seemed clear, Jesse’s base was the Black community and there was no chance for him to expand his base beyond those voters. He had no chance to win.

As the weeks went on I saw him speak a few times on CNN and something funny happened in my brain. He was talking about addressing poverty and how poverty wasn’t just a problem in the inner city, but also in Appalachia. He then said that the real face of poverty is white, and young, and a women. He pointed out that single mothers and their children made up the largest share of people in poverty and the government must do something to address this issue. As a teenager who was raised by a single mother with four kids in a family that wouldn’t have survived without Welfare and Food Stamps, his words struck a chord in me that changed my life.

I had always thought that Presidents dealt with wars, foreign policy, and issues that were on a global scale. Then I see this energetic candidate talking about how the President could reach out their hand to families like mine and who could lift the dignity of women like my mother. That was it, I was hooked. From that moment on Jesse became my guiding light on a whole host of issues.

Although I was too young to vote for him in the 1984 primaries, I was able to proudly cast my ballot for him in 1988. I had followed his every move during the campaign and had the pleasure of seeing him in person when he spoke in Camden in the lead-up to the New Jersey primary. This is a night I will never forget.

When I read that he had passed away, I wasn’t shocked, for I had known he had been in bad health for a while now. Still, many emotions flowed through me as I realized the guiding light of my young adulthood is no more. At the same time, I realized that this is the nature of life and now that he is gone we have to honor his legacy by working harder at achieving the goals that he laid down for us forty years ago. The words that Jesse himself wrote about Dr. King now apply to Jesse and his life. They read:

“Don’t just admire Dr. King. Follow him. Don’t just remember him one day of the year. Let your actions honor him every day of the year. Do justice. Love mercy. Because Dr. King is not with us physically, it is our responsibility to keep his spirit alive.”

Now it is our turn to do the same for Jesse. We need to let our actions honor him every day. It is now our responsibility to keep his spirit alive through our actions.

F from New Jersey