Bay Area leaders remember Rev. Jesse Jackson as pioneer and human rights champion
"He respected the worth and dignity of all persons"
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who twice ran for president and helped reshape the modern Democratic coalition, is being remembered Tuesday as a pioneer who pushed America to broaden its vision of equality.
"He was one of the best servant leaders anywhere to be found," said Rev. Amos Brown, a longtime friend and fellow civil rights leader.
Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1941. That same year, Brown was born in Jackson, Mississippi. The two men would later find common cause in the civil rights movement, bonded by similar early experiences with inequality.
"We had similar experiences that motivated high engagement in the struggle for human rights," Brown said. "We're not just concerned about civil rights for Black people - but human rights."
Both men were mentored by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose philosophy of nonviolence and moral urgency shaped Jackson's approach to activism.
"If he could speak to us again, he would say, 'Check yourself,'" Brown said of Jackson. "We all have to do that - mind our manners and be kind to each other."
Jackson rose to national prominence as a close aide to King and later as the founder of Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition.
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In 1984 and again in 1988, he mounted historic campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination - becoming one of the first Black candidates to mount a serious national bid for the White House.
"He was a pioneer," said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who served as national chair of Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign. "Jesse Jackson changed the nature of the Democratic process of selecting their nominee."
Jackson's campaigns focused on building what he called a "Rainbow Coalition," reaching beyond Black voters to Latino and Asian American communities, labor unions, students, farmers and working-class white voters.
"Our flag is red, white and blue," Jackson said during his 1984 Democratic National Convention speech in San Francisco. "But our nation is a rainbow: red, yellow, brown, Black and white. We are all precious in God's sight."
In that same speech, Jackson offered one of his most enduring metaphors.
"America is not like a blanket - one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size," he said. "America is more like a quilt. Many patches, many pieces. Many colors, many sizes. All woven and held together by a common thread."
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Political observers say that approach was groundbreaking at the time.
"He made a point to focus on building a broad, diverse coalition," said Averi Harper, ABC News political director. "He didn't focus solely on Black voters, even though he was very prominent in the Black community. He also reached out to Latino voters, Asian American voters, to labor unions, to students and farmers and working-class white voters. That was the Rainbow Coalition that he built."
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Those closest to Jackson say the best way to honor his legacy is to continue striving for the ideals he championed.
"He respected the worth and dignity of all persons," Brown said.
When asked what he will miss most, Brown pointed to Jackson's ability to rise to the moment.
"I'll miss the moments when he said the right thing at the right time," Brown said. "This will never be a perfect world. But we can work for and push excellence. Excellence - not to be perfect, but we must reach for excellence."
