Jesse Jackson: a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr who lived out his dream
發佈日期: 2026-02-18 21:05
TVB News
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a protege of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, and two-time presidential candidate, died on Tuesday. He was 84.
Jesse Jackson with Dr Martin Luther King and others at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3rd, 1968.
With King again on April 4th, 1968. King would be assassinated later that day, and Jesse Jackson would gradually emerge as his successor in the US civil rights movement.
"I really can't think of any single individual who's had more influence after Dr King's tenure here than Reverend Jesse Jackson," said Jackson's friend, Danny Davis, Representative for Illinois.
Jackson, born on October 8th, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, spent a lifetime fighting for equality and justice.
He is seen here in January 2015 marching to protest the death of Dontre Hamilton by police in Milwaukee.
"Dr King would be so proud of you today. You stand in the cold, multiracial, multicultural, employed, unemployed because justice transcends race," he said at the time.
What's his name? Crowd: George Floyd. What's his name? Crowd: George Floyd, was the chant during a rally for Floyd.
Despite profound health challenges in his final years including a rare brain disorder that affected his ability to move and speak, Jackson continued protesting against racial injustice into the era of Black Lives Matter.
He was twice a Democratic candidate for the presidential election.
"The only time that we win is when we come together."
"It's hard to imagine how we could have come as far as we have without the creative power, the keen intellect, the loving heart, and the relentless passion of Jesse Louis Jackson," said then-President Bill Clinton before he awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in August, 2000.
When Barack Obama won the 2008 election to become the first-ever Black president of the United States, Jackson shed tears, as if a lifetime's work bore fruit.
His status in the US meant he mingled with high-profile leaders from around the world, including South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Cuba's Fidel Castro.
In July, 2013, he was invited by the United Nations to speak on Nelson Mandela Day.
In February, 2015, Jackson revisited the Lorraine Motel where King was killed.
It was King who had a dream, and it was his disciple, Jesse Jackson, who fought for that dream and, in many ways, lived it.
