Overview:
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s life and legacy challenge today’s student leaders to confront injustice with moral courage, reject fatalism, dream beyond present circumstances, and actively work to transform society into a more just and hopeful world.
On Friday, mourners will have one last chance to pay their respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The public homegoing service in Chicago marks the end of a two weeks of memorials that crisscrossed the country as the nation after the Civil Rights icon died on Feb. 17.
His passing is not just a moment for mourning, however, it is a call to action. In a society that has grown increasingly unjust – from housing insecurity to immigration raids – his 1984 Democratic National Convention speech remains relevant, especially for student leaders seeking to build a better world.
In that famous speech, the Rev. Jackson said: “No generation can choose the age or circumstance in which it is born, but through leadership it can choose to make the age in which it is born, an age of enlightenment, an age of jobs and peace and justice.”
Far too often, people accept fatalistic mindsets and turn away from hope and collective power to dream and build a better future. In these challenging moments, we must ask: who are the dreamers bold enough to envision a better world?
As a former student leader, I was inspired by those words to take small steps towards a big vision. I believe that to understand how to make the world better, I first had to learn from people who came before me, whether through dialogue with a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, the reading of a biography, or watching a documentary. This kept me aligned with a legacy of bold dreamers of the past, who served as my inspiration.
One of my mentors who served as a father to me during my time in Philadelphia Freedom Schools, Rev. Clarence James Sr., was mentored by Rev. Jackson. Although I never met Rev. Jackson personally, his legacy touched my life through the guidance of Rev. James and the inspiration found in his speeches.
Reflecting on Rev. Jackson’s words offers today’s student leaders the same type of inspiration.
Rev. Jackson teaches students that they must meet the moral challenge of their day. He teaches students that they cannot be spectators in an unjust world. Conversely, they must see themselves as patches who, together, when unified, form a quilt ready to transform an unjust world into a just one. Rev. Jackson teaches us that leadership understands that there is right and wrong, and we must always be on the side of those who are oppressed by this injustice.
He challenged students to dream while, at the same time, face reality. He believed that surrendering to “the way things are” is a fatalistic approach. Instead, he urged kids to dream of the ought-to-be, which means they have to imagine a new world free of the injustices that prevent people from living up to their God-given potential.
As a result, he encouraged teachers to “teach for life, not just for a living.” Rev. Jackson believed that we have to go beyond teaching kids skills that make them ready for the workforce. In public schools across America, there is a high emphasis on preparing students, especially Black students, for work and not to pursue their dreams. Some teachers do this because the kids are born in working-class communities, but Rev. Jackson had a retort: his pedagogical misalignment was grounded in his own experience growing up poor. He asserted that “I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me.” Rev. Jackson wants teachers to teach students in a manner that inspires them to pursue their dreams as he did.
Critics will point to Rev. Jackson’s imperfections and missteps to devalue his words. But history is not made by perfect people. History is made by people who don’t view their flaws as determinants to their participation in transforming an unjust system. Rev. Jackson fought for what was right regardless of the consequences. And to that I salute this bold and fearless leader.
Dr. Cornel West in a recent interview, asserted that Rev. Jackson was “a great wave in the Black Freedom Movement”. He was a great leader who fought with love on the side of the oppressed. Rev. Jackson’s death marks the end of his physical life on earth, but his life offers long-lasting lessons to the youth of today and generations to come.
Let us honor the memory of a man bold enough to dream of a better world, regardless of the consequences. Long live Rev. Jackson, who taught us to keep hope alive by accepting the moral challenge of our day.
Dr. Nosakhere Griffin-EL is an award-winning educator, the co-founder of The Young Dreamers’ Bookstore, and a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute.
