America’s love for Jesse Jackson comes pouring out
As he rests in a Chicago hospital, political, religious and civil rights leaders celebrate his legacy.
Several sources have confirmed that former President Barack Obama over the weekend phoned the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is at a Chicago hospital in stable condition. Obama is said to have coordinated with the family for several days before the 44th president reached the civil rights icon.
Jackson has been an American icon for decades. He headed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a nonprofit social, racial, and political justice organization, made presidential runs on the Democratic ticket in 1984 and 1988, and was a longtime superpower behind voter registration drives. He is also credited with negotiating deals to free American hostages in the 1980s and 1990s: Before the Persian Gulf War, Jackson freed hostages from Iraq and Kuwait. In the Kosovo conflict, Jackson freed three American soldiers.
The Obama and Jackson families have long been connected. Michelle Obama was very close to Jackson’s daughter Santita. In 2008, Jesse Jackson Jr. served as the national co-chair of Obama’s presidential campaign.
On Sunday, Jackson also received a FaceTime call from the Rev. Amos Brown, another civil rights pioneer. In the 1950s and 1960s, Brown and Jackson marched and labored alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for first-class citizenship for African Americans.
Brown told me that Jackson recognized him during the FaceTime communication “by his expression and countenance.” Brown, the San Francisco pastor of former Vice President Kamala Harris, also said the elder Jackson did not speak, but Brown “encouraged him to fight on as we had fought in the struggle as friends and freedom fighters.”
Over the past several days, politicians, former staffers, and others, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, have gone to Jackson’s bedside to encourage him during his illness.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told me on “The Tea With April Ryan,” “I continue to draw strength from Rev. Jackson.” Johnson reminded us that “the Freedom movement in the north came right through the city of Chicago.” King put Jackson in charge of the civil rights activities in the north, based in Chicago. “Dr. King said if we can figure it out in Chicago, we can figure it out anywhere in the world,” Johnson recalled.
In a recent written statement, the Jackson family said that the reverend was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. In April, he was diagnosed with supranuclear palsy, a neurological disorder.
Yusef Jackson, the reverend’s son and family spokesperson, said, “We believe in the power of prayer, and we are grateful for the overwhelming outreach and prayers of the faithful. Our father is alert and continues to share his vision for churches and pastors to come together and reduce malnutrition during this period. He is enlisting 2,000 churches and pastors to distribute 2,000 baskets of food, to feed four million families this season.”
Wishing a speedy recovery to Jesse Jackson.
Jesse Jackson is a hero! Wishes for his continued recovery.