by Nayaba Arinde
NEW YORK—“A mighty Iroko tree has fallen. Its roots were planted in Greenville, South Carolina, its trunk strengthened in Chicago, and its branches extended across continents,” WBAI Pacifica Radio AfrobeatRadio host Wuyi Jacobs told The Final Call.
Rev. Jackson, 84, was surrounded by his family when he transitioned on February 17, in Chicago. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2017, he passed from elements of the neurological disorder progressive supranuclear palsy.
The Jackson family announced week-long service details in Chicago at Rainbow PUSH, and in South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
When former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. announced the public funeral services two weeks ago, he said, “These homegoing services are welcome to all—Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right-wing, left-wing, because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1941, Jesse Louis Burns, the former A&T quarterback and sociology graduate—renamed Jackson after his stepfather—chose to immerse himself in the civil rights movement.
He was “A transformative leader who changed this nation and the world,” said National Action Network President and Jackson protege Rev. Al Sharpton, of his mentor. He dedicated his weekly Harlem rally to Rev. Jackson, alongside Spike Lee, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Rev. Jackson’s forcefully delivered “I am somebody” rallying cry has been embedded in the lexicon of Black people opposing institutionalized racism the world over.
It was in Rev. Herbert Daughtry’s Downtown Brooklyn House of the Lord Church in 1984, where Rev. Jackson announced the launch of his presidential campaign.
Rev. Daughtry, 95, has coined a phrase, stating: “Practically every Black politician in a position of power and influence is a Jacksonian–meaning that they came under the influence of Rev. Jackson.”
Former City Council and Assemblymember Annette Robinson said Rev. Jackson’s 1984 run for president was launched in Brooklyn. Future, but not yet elected politicians Al Vann and David Dinkins, were his campaign managers for New York state. “We had a lot of meetings and rallies for Jesse Jackson. We had the largest delegation. He won New York City, but He didn’t win the state,” Mr. Robinson said.
“All the folks who were running for office came on his (Rev. Jackson’s) coattails. David Dinkins became mayor, Attorney General Tish James worked for Al Vann. All the people who got elected benefited from the cumulative impact of Jesse Jackson’s run for president of the United States, because he changed the rules for how votes were counted. We got so many people involved. He impacted the landscape. Una Clarke and I went to the city council, then I went to the Assembly. Jesse Jackson had everyone feeling that they were a part of the political landscape,” he added. Ms. Clarke served in the New York City Council from the 40th district from 1992 to 2001.
“Before President Barack Obama could run, Rev. Jesse Jackson had to run and pave the way,” Dr. Segun Shabaka, Chairman of the International African Arts Festival, said. “That campaign was unofficially launched in Brooklyn, New York, with the encouragement and endorsement of Al Vann and his Vannguard organization, the Black United Front, along with many other individuals and organizations. From that 1984 campaign and his subsequent 1988 presidential run, Blacks became entrenched in the Democratic Party machine,” he said.
“No doubt that today’s Black Democratic Party standings are largely due to those Jesse Jackson political runs. Unfortunately, his Rainbow Coalition did not fully flourish as an independent Black and ‘Third World’ led political alternative.”
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said, “We’ve lost an absolute icon of American history in this country. Reverend Jackson waged a lifelong crusade for racial justice and social progress.” Without his two “revolutionary campaigns” for the presidency in 1984 and 1988, Mr. Williams added, “We may never have seen the generations of Black leadership to follow, from President Barack Obama to public advocate Jumaane Williams to Black elected officials all across this country.”
Imam Izak-El Mu’eed Pasha from Harlem’s Historic Masjid Malcolm Shabazz said that Rev. Jackson should be acknowledged for “the great work that he’s done for us as a people, and his influence for all people seeking justice. We hope that our young folks will study his works and the dignity with which he did that work.”
“The same issues that resonated when he was 21 are the same issues today in 2026. We have plenty of work to do,” he added.
With “a Pan-African consciousness,” NYC radio host Wuyi Jacobs stated, “Rev. Jackson understood that the Black freedom struggle in America was inseparable from the liberation struggles of Africa and the Diaspora—from the streets of Chicago to the townships of South Africa; from the Caribbean independence movements to the quest for economic justice across the Global South.”
Through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Jackson “advanced a politics rooted in inclusion, economic equity, and multiracial democratic participation. His presidential campaigns expanded the American political imagination and organized the marginalized in the United States into a formidable constituency that built the coalition framework that would eventually make possible the presidency of Barack Obama.”
“That’s my brother,” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said at the Nation of Islam’s Saviours’ Day convention in Detroit on Feb. 22. “To his dying breath, he worked for us … and I will never be found dogging his name when he did so much to help our people rise to where they are,” Minister Farrakhan said.
During his 1984 presidential campaign, Minister Farrakhan provided security to Rev. Jackson and his family in the aftermath of threats they received and the bombing of his campaign office. The F.O.I. (Fruit of Islam, the men of the Nation of Islam) secured and protected the Jackson family.
Charles Barron, former New York City and state Assemblymember said “rest in power for a job well done,” regarding Rev. Jackson.
“I was around for the 1984 presidential campaign, and I respected Minister Louis Farrakhan for his support of Jesse, and the F.O.I. for providing security for Jesse.”
For decades, Rev. Jackson had organized marches and impactful boycotts, against Jim Crow laws, entrenched discrimination, and worked with Dr. Martin Luther King with the creation of Operation Breadbasket, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson founded Rainbow-PUSH Coalition, and the Wall Street Project, fought to end South African apartheid, and with his “citizen diplomacy,” he became a chief negotiator helping to free hostages like Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman from Syria, reportedly Iraq 700 women and children in Kuwait, U.S. military personnel and “human shields” across the world, including Gambia, Liberia, Cuba, and Yugoslavia.
New York-based Nigerian-American actor Gbenga Akinagbe told The Final Call from Lagos, “We stand on the shoulders of giants who refuse to accept injustice as inevitable. Reverend Jesse Jackson showed us that faith and action belong together — that justice requires persistence, courage, and an unshakable belief in the dignity of all people.”
Akinagbe, the Founder of socially conscious lifestyle and apparel brand Liberated People continued, “As we honor his life, we recommit ourselves to the work: building economic power, protecting civil rights, and organizing with purpose. Though he is no longer with us, his vision, his teachings, and his unwavering commitment to justice will continue to guide and inspire generations to come.”
Student Minister Henry Muhammad of East New York’s Mosque 7C, said, Rev. Jackson worked as a “disciple of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, when he asked Minister Louis Farrakhan to be with him in support of his bid for President of the USA…he showed the Black community and the world, Muslim/Christian Unity…[He] opened that door, and America wasn’t ready for it. But, like it or not, that door isn’t closed.”
WBLS FM Executive Producer and Radio Host Fatiyn Muhammad said, called Jackson “one of the greatest moral and movement leaders of our lifetime.”
The producer of Rev. Al Sharpton’s Keepin’ It Real radio show, added, “Rev. Jackson was not simply a civil rights icon. He was a freedom fighter, a bridge builder, and a relentless voice for justice — not only for Black people, but for the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the oppressed across the globe…Rev. Jesse Jackson’s legacy will live forever — in the institutions he built, in the lives he touched, in the battles he fought, and in the generations he inspired to stand up, speak out, and serve humanity.”
Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center said, “Rev. Jackson opened doors so Black people and other excluded communities could step into opportunity and dignity.” Sharing a photograph of Jackson with her father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she stated, “They are both now ancestors…”
Yusef Jackson, Chief Operating Officer of Rainbow PUSH, stood outside the Southshore family home with four of his siblings including Congressman Jonathan Jackson, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and said, “Our father is a man who dedicated his life to public service to gain, protect and defend civil rights and human rights to make our nation better, to make the world more just, our people better neighbors with each other.”
Nayaba Arinde is a freelance Editor-at-Large and award-winning reporter and activist. Follow her on Instagram @NayabaArinde1