HOUSTON \u2013 As tributes pour in for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, one Houston journalist-turned educator is reflecting on a moment that helped define her life\u2019s work. <\/p>\n
KPRC 2 anchor Andy Cerota sat down with her to talk about what she calls a brief but powerful encounter more than four decades ago when she met Rev. Jesse Jackson.<\/p>\n
As tributes pour in for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, one Houston journalist-turned educator is reflecting on a moment that helped define her life\u2019s work. (Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Texas Southern University journalism professor and Assistant Dean Serbino Sandifer-Walker still remembers the day in 1984 when Jackson came to Galveston during his presidential campaign. At the time, she was the first African American news director at KILE Radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember like it was yesterday. It was 42 years ago. To me, that\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat it did, it humbled me, but it also helped me to understand that representation is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandifer-Walker interviewed Jackson as he visited Galveston to connect with voters. After the interview, she says Jackson gave her a small but unforgettable gesture of encouragement.<\/p>\n
\u201cReverend Jackson gave me a little pat on the shoulder, and it affirmed to me that I was supposed to be there. I was exactly where I needed to be,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also affirmed to me accountability, that I had to ask him the tough questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
That simple pat, she recalls, felt like something more.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made you feel like you were his relative,\u201d she said. \u201cThat pat on the shoulder made me feel like my father patted me on the shoulder saying, \u2018Good job, girl. Good job. You got this. You can do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A CALLING TO TELL STORIES FOR THE \u201cUNSEEN\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandifer-Walker said that encounter helped crystalize her responsibility as a journalist especially to communities that often feel left out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt signaled to me that I had a responsibility to go into the community and to tell those stories that were very important \u2014 and most important to people who felt invisible, unseen, disenfranchised,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She sees Jackson\u2019s 1984 presidential campaign in the same light.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn actuality, I think that Reverend Jackson\u2019s 1984 presidential campaign was about that challenging America to live up to its promise, its promise of liberty, equality, dignity, respect and justice for all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Today, even as a professor and assistant dean, she says she still considers herself a journalist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still write every day working on books, working on multimedia projects,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing a journalist is so important. It really makes a difference in our community, and I have to hold everyone accountable, including holding myself accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
JACKSON\u2019S FOOTPRINT IN HOUSTON AND AT TSU<\/p>\n
Sandifer-Walker says Jackson\u2019s work alongside local civil rights leaders helped shape Texas Southern University and the broader Houston community, particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis work had a tremendous impact at Texas Southern University and our entire community,\u201d she said. \u201cJesse Jackson was definitely an advocate for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, white Americans all Americans with his Rainbow Coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Education, she says, was central to his message.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation, to him, was liberation,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was a strong advocate of education\u2026 and for students in those underserved communities getting an education.\u201d<\/p>\n
She connected Jackson\u2019s advocacy to TSU\u2019s own civil rights legacy. TSU students led Houston\u2019s first sit-in on March 4, 1960 a protest she now brings to life for her classes by retracing those steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I typically do with my class is I relive that history by marching to that location where that sit-in was held,\u201d she said, noting it was at a Weingarten\u2019s store on Almeda. \u201cI worked for two years to get a historical marker to be left there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson, she said, engaged deeply with students and leaders who were pushing for equality and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe worked so hard with our students, with Dr. King, with even Reverend Lawson,\u201d she said. \u201cReverend Jackson was that quintessential advocate for the little guy, for the person who felt disenfranchised, for the person who just simply wanted to be but they were being held back by policy and by people who didn\u2019t realize we had so much more in common than you can ever imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
His message, she says, was simple but urgent: work together, across lines of race and background, to move communities forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted us to understand that we needed to work together in order to move our communities forward,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s simply his legacy that we could all work together, no matter your race, your gender.\u201d<\/p>\n
PROCESSING HIS PASSING<\/p>\n
When news broke of Jackson\u2019s passing, Sandifer-Walker said she had to stop and take a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to take a moment, because I knew that he was ill, but you\u2019re just never prepared for that moment when you know this iconic person is no longer here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really impacted me, because I felt like he was my relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mind went back to that moment in Galveston, and to the words Jackson often shared with crowds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still go back to that little pat on my shoulder. It affirmed me. It helped me to believe that I could be somebody,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would always say\u2026 \u2018I am somebody. You matter.\u2019 And I thought about all of that as a young person that I really mattered. I really mattered, and I made a difference, and will continue to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says she now works to pass that same message on to her students and the communities she serves.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy promise to them is to tell their stories with a level of authenticity and honesty that really matters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
CARRYING THE LEGACY FORWARD<\/p>\n
Sandifer-Walker describes Jackson as \u201ca simple man from South Carolina\u201d whose life showed what was possible with hard work, conviction and compassion.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one said he was perfect, because none of us are perfect, right? But he left a huge legacy that will never be forgotten by me and many others,\u201d she said. \u201cThat legacy is that you can come from anywhere, and you can be anything. You put your mind to it, you work hard, then you work with others, and you respect others, and you treat others with dignity and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her, that 1984 interview is now part of a much larger story: a through line connecting Galveston\u2019s emancipation history, TSU\u2019s civil rights roots and Jackson\u2019s national influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an iconic place, and to think that Jesse Jackson actually came to Galveston in 1984, that was so impactful, so powerful,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful that I\u2019d had that opportunity back in 1984 to interview the Reverend Jesse Jackson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, she says, Houston is full of people quietly continuing that work.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 As tributes pour in for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, one Houston journalist-turned educator is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,68288,66,223,30359],"class_list":["post-172163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-jesse-jackson","tag-local","tag-news","tag-tsu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}