(WHTM) — Pennsylvania leaders mourned the loss of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Monday at 84 from a neurological disorder.
The civil rights leader made numerous visits to the state over the years. During his last visit to Harrisburg in 2024, he received a standing ovation from the House of Representatives.
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“It was unbelievable,” said House Speaker Joanna McClinton, the first Black woman to hold the position. “He’s someone I grew up quoting as a child.”
State Rep. Napoleon Nelson, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, said after meeting with lawmakers, Jackson visited inmates at the Dauphin County Prison.
His message: “Be as inclusive as you can because it’s the right thing to do,” Nelson said. “It’s be grounded in some level of kind of true moral conviction because that’s what will lead you. That’s what will sustain you.”
That was his last appearance, not his first. Fifty years prior, he delivered words that still resonate today.
“We cannot just concern ourselves with Democrats, but with democracy,” Jackson said. “We cannot just concern ourselves with Republicans, but with the Republic. The new pluralism has to be a move to reconcile the nation rather than to exploit its divisions.”
Read Jackson’s full speech below:
As a presidential candidate in 1984, Jackson joined protesters in calling for an end to nuclear power at Three Mile Island.
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He launched another campaign for the office in 1988. Both runs were unsuccessful, but State Sen. Vincent Hughes, who bused overnight from Philadelphia to North Carolina for his campaign, said it paved the way for former President Barack Obama, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, McClinton, House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris and himself.
“Those were always positions that were never available until we had the technique, the knowledge and the courage to go out and seek those positions,” Hughes said. “And now we’re there.”
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