Jesse Jackson Fought to Expand Democracy

The spirit of the Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson lives on in all of us. I had an opportunity to chat with him a couple of times this past summer, and what was clear to me was that his mind was as lucid as ever, despite his waning physical strength. He called his organization Operation PUSH, "the Dr. King workshop," but in my eyes having watched him over the years, Operation PUSH was the "Rev. Jesse Jackson workshop." Without realizing it, I had come to embody his clearly modeled concepts on cultural framing. From his African-centered dress in his early years, where he challenged the status-quo to cut us in or cut us out, to his transcontinental forays into the liberation struggles of South Africa, Liberia, and the Black diaspora, his mantra was clear that the tent of justice must be expanded. At his recent PUSH alumni "Homegoing Celebration," hundreds of spanish activists were there also to begin a three-bus caravan to Selma Alabama, site of the Edmund Pettus Bridge debacle, where civil rights activists in 1965 were pummeled for marching to achieve the right to vote. With the primaries upcoming in a few days, I'm keenly reminded of Rev. Jackson's mantra to "Keep our eyes on the prize." We can honor his legacy by taking back the Congress through the voting booth.