Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., a friend of UIC and SJI

Introduction

I knew Rev. Jackson for nearly 40 years. It is hard to think of him in the past tense. Wherever there was opposition to injustice, he was there. He was there when crowds were small, and he was present at some of the largest mobilizations and political gatherings this country has seen. It is not hyperbole to say, he was an iconic figure for a generation of progressive social and racial justice activists, for the nation as a whole, and in many, ways, for the world.

Posthumous tributes often cast their subjects as flawless and peerless. In many ways Rev. Jackson was indeed peerless, but as he himself conceded many times, he was not perfect. He was not shy of media, but when he was in the spotlight, when he held the microphone, he used it to champion the poor, the incarcerated, the abused, the colonized and the disenfranchised. He did not mince words in condemnation of income inequality and billionaire excess. And he was not afraid to speak out on issues that more mainstream political figures would not. He supported Palestinian human rights and self-determination. He supported Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist candidate for president, even though he had friends and acquaintances who tried to pull him toward more centrist figures. Jackson’s two historic runs for president shifted the rules of the game and foregrounded a set of progressive issues that linked the U.S. Black Freedom Movement to a range of social movements, from LGBTQ rights, to environmental justice, to immigration and labor struggles. That was the Rainbow Coalition of the 1980s, echoing Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton’s call for a rainbow coalition more than a decade earlier. And Jackson stood tall on the international stage too, in solidarity with South Africa, Cuba and other nation’s under the heavy feet of oppression.

Despite his larger than life persona, Rev. Jackson was accessible to young people, working class people, and the southside Black community where he made his home and raised his family. He also had a special relationship to UIC and to our Social Justice Initiative. In 2012, Rev. Jackson accepted our invitation to be in conversation with our visiting fellow, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. We had an overflow crowd that day, and I was honored to moderate a rousing and far-reaching dialogue. He visited our campus on many occasions. I remember one visit that somehow yielded a small turnout of mostly students. He was supposed to be with us an hour but his staff could not get him to leave he was so engaged with the students. And before each student asked a question, he would say – what’s your name, what high school did you go to? Which made them feel seen. Another connection we had with him was to support efforts to safeguard his precious archive. I spent many hours sorting through dusty papers, working with archivist Skyla Hearn, to make sure no historical gems stored at the headquarters were lost. It reminded both of us of the depth and breadth of Jackson’s living legacy as his papers (only one of many batches) chronicled some of the most significant political and civil rights events and campaigns of the past half century.

At least three of UIC’s Chancellors made the trek down to Hyde Park to meet with Rev. Jackson at his Rainbow PUSH offices as a sign of respect and acknowledgement. As a public university in a diverse city where race has been a major dividing line, Jackson always insisted on making sure our university leadership understood its importance and its obligations to the City of Chicago and to the principles of racial and social justice.

We remember him this Black History Month for all his lessons, big and small, for this gifts that went far beyond the Black community, and for his example of courage and steadfastness, especially in difficult and dangerous times, like the times we find ourselves in now.