It was with a profound sense of loss and deep sorrow that the Thabo Mbeki Foundation received the news that a giant of our shared struggle, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a recipient of the Companion of Oliver Tambo, has departed from the land of the living.
Words often fail us when we attempt to capture the magnitude of a spirit so vast, and a life lived with such relentless purpose, as that of the Reverend Jackson.
For those of us in South Africa, he was not just a distant observer of our pain; he was a comrade who walked the long road with us.
We recall with great clarity the times we shared, both during the dark days of our exile and in the brightness of our liberation. It is only in retrospect that one fully appreciates the sheer weight of the burden he chose to carry. He stood as a titan in the global arena, refusing to let the world turn a blind eye to the crime against humanity that was apartheid.
When our leaders were silenced behind prison walls and our people were gagged by oppressive laws, it was Jesse Jackson who lent his booming voice to the voiceless, mobilising the conscience of the world to stand against racial tyranny.
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s vision was never confined by borders.
He dedicated his entire existence to a noble and difficult provocation, challenging the governments and societies of this world to accept the fundamental truth that all human beings are born with equal worth. He insisted, often against great resistance, that the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of prosperity are not the preserve of a privileged few, but the inalienable inheritance of every person, everywhere.
His was a life defined by “somebody-ness”, a relentless assertion of dignity in the face of degradation and the erasure of his people’s culture and being. We were privileged to see him standing tall in both the pulpit and on the picket line, driven by a love for humanity that knew no fatigue. He understood, fundamentally, that his own freedom was inextricably bound to the freedom of others.
In a world that often seems to be losing its moral compass, sliding toward division and intolerance, the absence of his guiding light is felt most strictly. We are left to mourn, but also to reflect on the unfinished work he has left in our hands. PRIVATE BAG X4 4 4 , HOUGHTON, 2 0 4 1 REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Te l +2 7 11 4 86 1 56 0 Fax +2 7 1 1 4 8 6 0 7 23 INFO@MBEKI .ORG WWW.MBEKI .ORG
In his poem, I Dream a World, the great Langston Hughes wrote:
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!
This was the world Jesse Jackson fought to build.
To pay proper tribute to Reverend Jackson, we must not offer empty platitudes. Instead, we must commit to honouring his legacy by doing what is right for the future of our Continent. We must cultivate mutually respectful and beneficial relationships between our people and those of Reverend Jackson’s native land, America, ensuring that the bridges he built are not allowed to crumble.
To the Jackson family, the members of the Rainbow Coalition, and the millions who looked to him for inspiration, we extend our deepest condolences. We share in your grief, for we have lost a dear friend, a courageous leader, and a valiant soldier for peace.
Farewell, Reverend Jackson, revered moral guide and principled leader of our people.