Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign, though unsuccessful, became a reference point for a widening circle of organizers and political leaders who came to see his work as both a model and a mandate, according to the Associated Press. Jackson, a longtime civil rights figure, died Tuesday at 84.
When Jackson launched his second run for president in 1988, he framed his bid in Pittsburgh as an opportunity for the country to live up to its highest ideals. In the campaign, he emphasized that his effort offered a chance for people across gender and all communities to believe in the possibility of an “authentic and honest democracy,” as he described it in an AP account of his remarks at the time.
Decades after that first wave of attention, prominent Democratic and Republican figures credited Jackson with expanding what they believed could be possible in public life. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who also serves as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said Jackson’s influence is still needed in response to current political actions on elections, global affairs and immigration, adding that Jackson’s example remains even after his voice is silent.
Several tributes from the Obama family tied Jackson’s political message to early exposure to organizing and coalition-building. The Associated Press reported that Barack Obama praised Jackson in a statement, and that Michelle Obama wrote that she saw her “first glimpse of political organizing” at the Jacksons’ kitchen table as a teenager. Michelle Obama also said that in Jackson’s “two historic runs for president,” he laid groundwork for her own later campaign.
The AP account also described how Jackson’s influence extended to younger activists and organizers who learned from him as they pursued racial justice. DeRay McKesson, a racial justice activist who organized in Ferguson, Missouri, as part of Black Lives Matter, said Jackson continued to reach out to young Black activists during the protests that began in 2014, and he cited Jackson’s “deep understanding of structural change” as part of what made that mentorship consequential.
Jackson remained active after his presidential bids through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and the AP described him mentoring leaders for decades from the organization’s Chicago headquarters. After his death, the AP reported that lawmakers and political operatives credited him with shaping their careers, including Democratic Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana, who said Jackson encouraged him throughout his political path after Carter first met him as a young staffer to New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy.
In statements also reflected by the AP, some of Jackson’s political impact was remembered in terms of community and coalition-building rather than agreement on every policy question. Former Vice President Kamala Harris described small moments when she was a law student that she said reflected Jackson’s effort to lift up working people’s dignity, and Sen. Tim Scott said he did not have to agree with Jackson politically to deeply respect the role he played in uplifting Black voices and inspiring young people to believe their voices mattered.
The AP account also highlighted how Jackson’s legacy passed into new waves of political careers in state legislatures. Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, who said he learned about Jackson from a picture book on Black history at age 8 and later met him after Republicans expelled him and another Black Democratic lawmaker, thanked Jackson for “creating space” for people like him. Another Tennessee lawmaker, Justin Jones, said Jackson stood out even at memorials featuring major civil rights figures and described Jackson as committed to raising a generation of civil rights leaders.
Stacey Abrams, according to the AP, said she was 10 during Jackson’s first presidential bid and remembered being “transfixed” by a larger-than-life figure who did not look like everyone else. Abrams said Jackson later advised her through two unsuccessful bids for governor and recounted receiving phone calls and offers from him as she tried to build support among voters of color and lower-income voters, saying Jackson’s legacy was about building community rather than standing alone.