LETTER: Remembering a civil rights leader

Dear editor: 

I was deeply saddened about the passing of The Reverend Jesse Jackson. I was a member of his Rainbow Coalition. 

Although many believe they are familiar with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died last month. I honor him with the same reverence as Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Congressman John Conyers Jr. Millions of people respect him because he genuinely fought for peace, equality, not only for African Americans but EVERYONE, poor people in particular. That’s why he created the Rainbow Coalition – in order to work and fight for everyone. 

What I, and a million others, really appreciated was Jesse’s compassionate fight to get people off drugs, something that the press never talks about. I saw him at Garfield High School in Seattle. Jesse didn't want the media there because “if they had cameras on them, students wouldn't come forward.” During his presentation he asked if there was anybody using drugs in the Honor Society, the band, the cheerleaders.  

Students slowly came forward, at almost every grade level and every club. And then they all held hands, and he prayed using that Southern preacher cadence I was so familiar with.  

I thought it was wonderful for these children to first admit their use, and then pledge to get help.  

PUSH had started a national campaign helping people get off heroin. 

He was respected enough nationally to be a very creative and savvy hostage negotiator. Initially negotiating for the release of hostages in Iran, then Cuba, and there were other places he went on behalf of the United States. No one gave him a presidential award or nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he never requested it. 

I believe it can be said that he tried to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ; whether people want to accept that or not, that’s what he was trying to do. The Rainbow Coalition brought in more registered Democrats than at any other time in the history of the Democratic Party. I know this because I was in Olympia celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday. They played the South African national anthem, and all the Rainbow Coalition people came in, and the Democrats actually stood up and applauded. I met people from Canada who had come down because they had written a song for Rev. Jackson and they wanted to play it for the Rainbow Coalition 

In 1988 my 15-year-old son and I traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to celebrate Rev. Jackson's campaign to become the first African American man to run for president of the United States. My son was aware that Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to run for president. 

I have a critique for both Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans under George Bush recruited him to go to Iran and negotiate the release of several hostages. They usually give people awards for those things, and the fact that he was never appreciated really bothered me. We had a hero who was living in this country, and he was never honored. We spent all this time on Black History Month, and to see him never honored is really sad. President Obama, for many reasons, never honored Rev. Jackson, although Rev. Jackson set the path for a Black person to eventually be elected President of the United States. 

My husband and I went down to see my daughter in Georgia, and we heard that he was going to be speaking at a church, and we went. There had been a catastrophic flood in Georgia, and all you saw on the television was upper-middle-class and rich people complaining about their houses being destroyed. But Georgia has a large number of African Americans who are below the poverty line, and nothing was being said about them. So he had the housing people from Washington D.C. come to Georgia and talk to people. 

For cemeteries were segregated all through the South, As they walked through one of those cemeteries, I became very emotional as all of my relatives were buried in cemeteries similar to those. There was no press, no cameras; we just solemnly prayed. 

The Sunday before he died, I was at Galilee Baptist Church telling a few stories honoring Black History Month, and at the end I said, ‘I am somebody.’ This was a quote from Rev. Jackson. You could be poor, disabled, dying, or whatever; he would have people say, ‘I am somebody.’ I said that, and then two days later, he passed away. 

My foremost thought at this moment is that the passing of so great a champion of Human Rights will be felt not only throughout the city of his birth but the nation. 

Maryamu Givens 

Moses Lake 

Editor's Note: Mrs. Givens, thank you for sharing your insights into Mr. Jackson's life and the impact he had on you personally. Many in GenX and older remember him, but I think your letter is a reminder and an education for younger folks who weren't around when he was most engaged in public affairs. 

Be well,

R. Hans "Rob" Miller
Managing Editor
Columbia Basin Herald
Basin Business Journal