NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — New York City leaders and other prominent local figures are sharing their reactions to the death of civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The celebrated Baptist minister and pioneering politician died on Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family said in a statement.
Read more on the life and legacy of Rev. Jesse Jackson here.
“Today we mourn the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a giant of the civil rights movement who never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise. He marched, he ran, he organized and he preached justice without apology. May we honor him not just in words, but in struggle,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted to social media.
“Rev. Jackson reminded us that leadership is about lifting others, that faith must move us to action, and that no community is too small to matter. New York City stands on the shoulders of giants like him. His faith shaped his leadership, and his leadership shaped a generation. May God bless his memory,” former Mayor Eric Adams shared.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote: “Reverend Jesse Jackson’s life was defined by courage and conviction. From Selma to the national stage, he stood tall against injustice. We honor his legacy and the generations he inspired.”
Phil Taitt reports from Harlem.
Rev. Al Sharpton called Jackson “a movement unto himself” and is expected to speak later today.
Sharpton recalled working with Jackson as a teenager, saying, “when I was still a teenager trying to find my place in this struggle, Rev. Jackson appointed me youth director of the Brooklyn branch of Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He trusted me with responsibility and saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. That is the measure of a true mentor: they do not just teach you; they name you …
“To me, he was more than a public figure. He was Godfather to my two daughters. He prayed over them as infants. He spoke life into them as young girls. We stood in his home not as a headline, but as family. He taught them, and me, that trying is as important as triumph. That you do not wait for the dream to come true; you work to make it real.
“Because of him, I learned that leadership is not about being seen, it is about seeing others. Because of him, I learned that our lives mean the most when they are spent widening the circle of who belongs … Rest now, Reverend Jackson. I love you,” Sharpton said.
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