Pastor Douglas Randle recalled being in high school when Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped by and noted: “Up with hope, down with dope.”
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio faith leaders and those who worked with the late Rev. Jesse Jackson are remembering the civil rights icon who championed racial and economic justice for more than five decades.
“Everybody knew of Jesse Jackson,” said Renee Watson, director of Bexar County’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Department. “Those of us who had the privilege of working with him were very honored throughout our lives.”
Jackson was a disciple of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., becoming a Baptist minister and activist who founded the civil rights organization, Operation PUSH and later the Rainbow Coalition. He twice sought the Democratic nomination for president, in 1984 and 1988, mounting historic campaigns that expanded political participation among minorities and low-income voters. He died, aged 84, following a lengthy battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, which results in health decline likened to Parkinson’s but on an accelerated level.
Watson said she served as a tri-chair of Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign and credits him with shaping her path in public service.
“He really inspired me to become a public servant,” Watson said.
Watson recalled meeting Jackson again during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, when Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination for president, a milestone many saw as building upon the groundwork laid by Jackson’s earlier campaigns.
Beyond social justice causes, Watson believes Jackson’s greatest impact was his push for economic equity.
“How do we move to the economics and hiring and jobs and not just the social aspect of health care and nondiscrimination?” Watson said. “To me, his life and legacy will be Operation PUSH and moving communities into jobs.”
Jackson’s message also resonated deeply with faith leaders across the country.
Pastor Douglas Randle remembers hearing Jackson speak when he was in high school in Seattle, Wash.
“It was electric, like a huge pep rally in the gym,” Randle said.
To this day, Randle remembers one slogan from Jackson’s visit: “Up with hope, down with dope.”
“He really encouraged us to leave the drugs alone and focus on what would benefit us in the future,” Randle said.
Randle noted Jackson had a unique ability to bridge civic engagement and spiritual responsibility.
“I think he had a way of bridging both our civic duties and our congregational duties. He impacted us greatly in both worlds and found a way to bring them together. As he would say, let’s keep hope alive.”
Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert released a statement on the passing of Jackson, stressing his father’s role in advocating for the civil rights staple and his impact on African-Americans in San Antonio.
The statement said in part: “Today, my family and I say goodbye to a hero for civil rights and for the American Dream. Growing up, I witnessed my father campaign tirelessly for Jesse Jackson in South Texas, as he led a movement based on working class issues that would lay the foundation for Senator Barack Obama to become President and would help shape my view of people-powered politics…To African-Americans in San Antonio, who are a minority within a minority, he was a messenger of God’s promise.”