KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, on Tuesday, described the death of the renowned United States civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson, as “a significant moment in history.
”His activism, which centred on championing economic, racial, and social justice and empowering Black, minority, and working-class people, including voters, had a global impact and will resonate for centuries to come,” Holness said as he expressed condolences to Jackson’s family, friends, and well-wishers who are now grieving his loss.
Jackson’s family in a statement said that the veteran US civil rights activist, considered as one of America’s most influential Black voices, died peacefully Tuesday morning at the age of 84.
Jackson, a Baptist minister, had been a civil rights leader since the 1960s, when he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and helped fundraise for the cause.
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” Jackson’s family said, adding “his unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by”.
In a statement, Prime Minister Holness described Jackson as one of the most positively consequential civil rights figures of the 20th and 21st centuries.
“Humanity owes Reverend Jackson a debt of gratitude. He was an inspirational orator who commanded the ears and consciousness of the captains of the corridors of power, both in the United States and around the world.”
Holness said Jackson is among a unique cadre of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jnr, who were admirable for their ability to put aside self-interest and, at significant personal risk, elect to prioritise what was right and good for humanity, not only in the United States of America, but across the globe.
“The passing of Reverend Jackson is a significant moment in history. His indelible efforts assisted greatly in ensuring that kindness, justice, equality, and humanity prevailed in instances where they were forgotten virtues,” Holness said.
The family did not release a cause of death, but Jackson revealed in 2017 that he had the degenerative neurological disease Parkinson’s.
He was hospitalized for observation in November in connection with another neurodegenerative condition, according to media reports.
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