Dies at 84
By Mona Austin
"KEEP HOPE ALIVE and I AM SOMEBODY." are the famous words of the Rev. Jesse Jackson who helped Africans Americans forge ahead in a nation that would deny them. He lifted Black people's pride in themselves. Saying "Black is beautiful," he helped the nation understand that Black life mattered and had value and worth in the 70s and 80s.
The towering political and religious figure has died at the age of 84. His health had declined from Parkinsons disease. His family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Tuesday morning.
His historic presence as a public servant began as a mentee with MLK when he was a teen. Any reflections on his life would be incomplete without recognizing him as a great American whose diplomacy and negotiating skills benefitted the nation and wirld from the work on apartheid to Iran .
A presidential run in 1984 in 1988.
Ambassador Andrew Young recalled hiw he boycotted gricery stores with Operation Bread Basket Carol Mosley Braun called him a gifted galvanizer.