The month of February is known as Black History Month. We believe that all cultures should be celebrated. Red, yellow, black and white, we are all precious in God’s sight. We once had a speaker come to the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Day Celebration in Wheeling, WV. and said, “America is considered the great melting pot, and that is a problem!” We were shocked to hear him say it. We waited for the explanation, which I was surprised to hear. “If we are the great melting pot, that means we lose our original flavor, looks, etc., and melted into something totally new, with all our individual past being lost.” He went on to say, “we suggest that America should be the great stir fry, where you contribute your uniqueness to the whole, but you maintain your own shape, and flavor, and still make something very special. I am not sure I agree with it all, but I do think that it is something we should think and talk about. This week, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and he was a two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades, and was also one of the last people who was actually there when Dr. King was assassinated; died Tuesday, February 17, 2026. He was 84.

As a young organizer in college and later in Illinois, Rev. Jackson at the age of 23 went down South to meet with Dr. King and work with him for the voter’s right act and help with the marches. The young Rev. Jackson was still working with Dr. King 4 years later when he was shot on April 4, 1968 on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; shortly after Dr. King died. My family and I were blessed to visit that same hotel. It is now a Civil Rights Museum. We were also blessed to meet the taxi cab driver that was picking up Dr. King and friends to drive them to dinner on that fatal day. He became a pastor as well. According to Rev. Jackson, Dr. King died in his arms. I can only imagine what that did to him to have his mentor die in his arms. Many feel that helped positioned Rev. Jackson as Dr. King’s successor.

During Rev. Jackson’s life he helped people all over the United States and abroad, fighting for the poor people’s issues, including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. Dr. King sent him to lead Operation Bread Basket. He later became the founder & leader of the Operation Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Everyone did not like him because he spoke about Black pride, while at the same time he did what he could to make America fair for everyone.

One of his most well-known chants was, “I am somebody.” When he would say that he was not just referring to black people, but for all people of all colors. The poem would go on to say, “I may be poor, but I am somebody; I may be young, but I am somebody; I may be on welfare, but I am somebody!” I believe he meant what he was saying because of his own life experiences. He grew up in the segregated South at the time. He was born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of a 16-year-old high school student, Helen Burns and Noah Louis Robinson, a married man who lived next door.

His mother later married Charles Henry Jackson, who formally adopted Jesse and his brother Charles. Rev. Jackson received his high school diploma from Sterling High School in Greenville, and in 1959 he received an athletic scholarship to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a quarterback for his High School team, but when he got to Illinois, he was told that black people could not play quarterback, and he would have to play another position. After his first year, Rev. Jackson transferred to North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina. Where he did play quarterback, was an Honor Student, and also became Student Council President. Proving that it is not how you start, but how you finish.

Rev. Al Sharpton, a community activist himself, once said that Rev. Jackson was his mentor, wrote in a statement, that Jackson taught, “trying is as important as triumph. That you do not wait for the dream to come true, you work to make it real.” He had other famous sayings such as, “Hope not dope,” and “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.”

Jackson had his share of critics, both within and outside of the Black Community. Don’t forget everybody did not like Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. when he was alive. Truth is everyone does not like you or me either. All leaders have their critics. It just a part of life. I am not sure I agree with everything he said or did. Neither do I agree with everything I say and do. It is my belief he did what he thought was right for him, his mission, and his family.

His wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, was his college sweetheart. He married her in 1963, and they raised five children: Santita Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, Jr., U.S. Representative Jonathan Luther Jackson, and Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. It was reported that Rev. Jackson had some kind of rare neurological disorder and died at home in Chicago surrounded by family.

Lastly, let us all pray and think good thoughts for Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie’s, (Today Show’s news anchor) mother, who has come up missing. We are praying for her quick return.

I would also like to recognize the passing of a great woman, Betty Woods “Snookie” Nutting. Her husband, G. Ogden Nutting, and her were great people in my life and this community.

I would like to end with another one of Rev. Jackson’s famous sayings concerning life, Ms. Guthrie, the United States, and the World. Here it is: “Keep Hope Alive!” Whatever you are going through remember this, Keep Hope Alive!