Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away on February 17 at age 84. Similar to Mental Health Connecticut’s founder Clifford Beers, who transformed his lived experience of injustice into a movement for reform of the mental health system, Rev. Jackson saw inequity and dedicated his life to changing it. A self-described “moral leader,” he carried forward the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., championing voting rights, economic justice, and racial equality.
After witnessing the violence of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, Jackson traveled to Selma, where meeting Dr. King changed the course of his life. He left seminary just months before graduating to join the Civil Rights Movement and was later ordained in Chicago. In 1966, he was appointed to lead Chicago’s Operation Breadbasket, organizing boycotts to push for fair hiring practices. He was in Memphis in 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated, a loss that deepened his lifelong commitment to justice.
In the years that followed, Jackson helped transform civil rights victories into political power. He registered and mobilized Black voters, campaigned nationally, and founded the National Rainbow Coalition to unite a broad, multiracial constituency. His historic 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns elevated issues of racial and economic justice and expanded who felt represented in American politics.
“My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised,” he declared in 1984, urging the nation to “Keep hope alive!”
During the 1980s and 1990s, Jackson worked to secure the freedom of dozens of international hostages and prisoners and used his platform to advocate for voting rights and LGBTQ equality. Jackson later served as a D.C. “statehood senator,” a presidential envoy to Africa, and in 2000 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Even after stepping down from Rainbow PUSH leadership in 2023, he remained civically engaged, continuing to advocate for voter participation, equity, and inclusion.
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s life reminds us that progress is built by those willing to speak up and persist. His legacy lives in the voices he amplified, the barriers he helped break, and the hope he urged the nation to hold onto.
That same spirit aligns with Mental Health Connecticut’s mission to partner with individuals, families, and communities to create environments that support long-term health and wellness. Like Rev. Jackson’s work, MHC’s vision is rooted in respect for the human condition, meeting people where they are and working together to build communities that are more just, welcoming, and safe for all.
As Jackson said in 2018:
“When we form a great quilt of unity and common ground, we’ll have the power to bring about health care and housing and jobs and education and hope to our nation. We, the people, can win.”
