Cookeville-Putnam County NAACP Leaders said Reverend Jesse Jackson leaves behind a legacy of fighting for those in need.
The Civil Rights leader and former presidential candidate passed away Tuesday. Cookeville-Putnam County NAACP President Tom Savage said Jackson worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to advocate for racial and economic equality.
“He was front and center in the civil rights movement, especially in 1964, the Civil Rights Act, 1968 Fair Housing Act, and again the 1974 Civil Rights Act Amended, and also he was the first African-American to run for president,” Savage said.
Savage said he met Jackson and described him as someone who could command a room, not only with his physical presence but also with his charismatic personality. He added that Jackson’s passing is devastating, as there are few leaders like him today.
“All of the veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, many of them have cashed in, and so Jesse has actually been sick for almost three years. We were waiting on it, but it’s sad when it happens because, when I heard about his death, it brought sadness to my heart. We have lost part of our unity of the Civil Rights Movement,” Savage said.
Savage said Jackson’s influence on younger activists and leaders today was rooted in the value of his words. “Jesse Jackson was a rhyme man, that’s for sure, but everything he said was progressive for the movement,” he said. “Everything he said had value, whether he was reading scripture from the Bible, because he was a preacher, or transforming that scripture into lessons for life today.”
Savage said Jackson’s most well-known slogan was “Keep Hope Alive,” a message he said now comes full circle.
“I think that should be a slogan we remember forever: to keep hope alive. And why are we keeping hope alive? To save our democracy, to make sure the least of these share the benefits of a great nation — a democracy that we live in — whether it be health care, the freedom to vote, labor rights, civil rights, human rights. Keep hope alive on all those subjects is what Jesse Jackson stood for,” Savage said.
Jackson passed away at the age of 84. Savage said Jackson will surely be missed.