The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Digital Editor

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Rev Jesse Jackson, a defining figure of the US civil rights movement and two-time presidential candidate, has died at the age of 84.

A protégé of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Rev Jackson died at his home in Chicago surrounded by family on Tuesday, according to international reports.

He championed voting rights, economic justice, education and healthcare access for more than five decades, and became one of the most recognisable civil rights leaders in America after King’s assassination. His “I am Somebody” message became a rallying cry for dignity and self-worth across racial and economic lines.

Prime Minister Philip Davis yesterday extended condolences on behalf of The Bahamas, describing Rev Jackson as “a giant of the civil rights era” whose influence reached beyond US borders.

“Today, on behalf of the Government and people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, I extend our deepest condolences to the family of Reverend Jesse Jackson, to the Rainbow PUSH family, and to all who counted him as a teacher, pastor and friend,” Mr Davis said.

“From the marches of the 1960s, through his presidential campaigns in the 1980s, to his decades of advocacy through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he helped bend public policy toward fairness and opened doors that had been closed for generations.”

Rev Jackson’s activism spanned domestic and international causes, including diplomatic interventions abroad and continued protests against racial injustice in his later years despite serious health challenges.

Mr Davis underscored Rev Jackson’s influence was not confined to the United States.

“Reverend Jackson used his pulpit and his platform to speak up for oppressed and overlooked people across the world. He reminded leaders everywhere that democracy has meaning only when it delivers dignity and opportunity to those at the margins of society.”

The Prime Minister highlighted Rev Jackson’s ties to The Bahamas, including his visit to Nassau for the Progressive National Baptist Convention Mid-Winter Board Meeting in 2018, where he joined church and community leaders in reflecting on Dr King’s connection to Bimini.

Rev Jackson also visited The Bahamas in 1983, when he was invited to be a guest speaker at Cornerstone Baptist Church’s first annual banquet benefitting the Children’s Emergency Hostel. He would return numerous times over the years, notably participating in independence celebrations and attending a ball marking former prime minister Sir Lynden Pindling’s 30 years in Parliament in 1986.

Speaking at the Cable Beach Hotel venue, Rev Jackson proclaimed the world was looking to The Bahamas for “moral and political leadership” to bring the battle against apartheid in South Africa to a “successful conclusion”.

“We need you!” Rev Jackson told the packed hall, “In an hour such as this, God has always used small nations and great men for critical hours. Jerusalem was a small place – Jesus, a big man. Montgomery a small place, Dr King a big man. The Bahamas is a small place, Sir Pindling you’re a big man.”

The Bahamas championed the international campaign against apartheid, backing economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure on South Africa’s white minority regime through regional, Commonwealth and United Nations platforms.

In his statement yesterday, Mr Davis continued: “On those visits he spoke warmly of our country, of our faith traditions, and of the example small nations can set when we choose justice and compassion as guiding principles.”

Mr Davis also noted that the “I am somebody” message was adopted locally as the name and spirit of a programme for persons with disabilities.

“In that way, his voice echoed in our communities even when he was far from our shores,” he said.

Mr Davis added that after Hurricane Dorian, Rev Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition helped mobilise relief efforts, raising donations and supplies for affected families.

“In our darkest hours, he chose to act, and we remain grateful,” he said.

Reflecting on Rev Jackson’s well-known call to “keep hope alive”, the prime minister said hope was not an excuse for inaction but “a call to organise, to vote, to stand together, and to build societies where race, class and background do not determine destiny”.

“May Reverend Jesse Jackson rest in peace. May his family be comforted. And may we honour his memory by defending human dignity, fighting discrimination in all its forms, and keeping hope alive in our own time,” Mr Davis said.