For decades, Rev. Jesse Jackson was one of the most powerful African American leaders in the United States. He challenged corporations to open their boardrooms, pressed governments to award contracts to businesses of people of color, pushed political parties to diversify their leadership, and encouraged African Americans to see their own value and potential.
I first heard Rev. Jackson speak in 1978 while I was a student at Morehouse College. He delivered a sermon at Central United Methodist Church in Atlanta, led by Rev. Joseph Lowery. His words about hope and power moved me deeply. That …
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For decades, Rev. Jesse Jackson was one of the most powerful African American leaders in the United States. He challenged corporations to open their boardrooms, pressed governments to award contracts to businesses of people of color, pushed political parties to diversify their leadership, and encouraged African Americans to see their own value and potential.
I first heard Rev. Jackson speak in 1978 while I was a student at Morehouse College. He delivered a sermon at Central United Methodist Church in Atlanta, led by Rev. Joseph Lowery. His words about hope and power moved me deeply. That day, I committed myself more fully to faith and to the work of change. Later, when I told Rev. Lowery I wanted to make a change, he advised me to excel in school so I would be prepared for the battles ahead. Rev. Jackson’s example helped shape that path.
In 1984, as a law student at the University of Michigan Law School, I volunteered for Rev. Jackson’s first presidential campaign. I helped organize in Ann Arbor and even traveled to Washington, D.C., to gather campaign materials when none were available locally. His campaign inspired thousands of us who believed America could be more inclusive.
In 1988, I became involved in the Rainbow Coalition in Philadelphia, eventually serving as co-chair. The Coalition brought together people of color, women, and working-class Americans. Though Rev. Jackson did not win the presidency, he transformed the Democratic Party. Rules changed. Representation increased. A generation of leaders stepped forward. He may have lost the election, but he won the campaign.
When I watched him in Chicago’s Grant Park during Barack Obama’s 2008 election, I saw the fulfillment of a strategy decades in the making. The Jackson campaigns laid critical groundwork for that moment.
In 2024, I met Rev. Jackson personally for the first time at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. Even in illness, he continued to use his voice for change.
Rev. Jackson has had a big influence on my life, and his spirit will live on.
Thank you, Rev. Jackson. Rest in Power.
Sen. Haywood is a Democrat who represents Senate District 4, which includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties.
