Words from his oldest and youngest daughters paint the picture of a father who would always be there, even when work called. The activist passed away on Tuesday after a long illness. He was 84 years old.
As tributes poured in from around the world for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday (Feb. 17), two of the most impactful came from his daughters.
In a letter shared on Instagram and Threads, his youngest daughter, Ashley Laverne Jackson, revered her father, saying she was “immensely grateful” for him and what he meant to her as a father.
“I am immensely grateful to have been held by your love a love so vast it moved nations and changed lives,” she wrote. “That love is what will sustain our connection in all realms. It does not end; it simply shifts form. Your presence and your love will remain with me always. I promise to honor your legacy, now and forever.”
She later added, “What a gift it has been to share this lifetime with you: to come from your lineage, to learn from a legend, to simply call you Dad.
Now, as I step into my own adulthood-flying on winds shaped by your enormous wings I find myself unspooling the threads of your legacy while weaving my own. I remain in awe of the giant that you are: in global and domestic politics, in faith communities, in the fight for civil rights, and also in the everyday ways you moved through the world, all six-foot-four of you, with conviction and heart.”
Sanita Jackson, the Reverend’s oldest child, spoke with ABC News about her father’s legacy and how he remained a present father despite serving others.
“My father wanted to be in our lives. He wanted to be present for us,” Santita Jackson told ABC News’ Kyra Phillips. “He said, ‘the greatest present I can give you is my presence,’ and so there was never a day in my life where I didn’t speak with him. … and even now, I feel his presence.”
She added, “He was the most threatened political presidential candidate in history up to that point in time, and he had to get his Secret Service protection well in advance,” she said. “He was part of a group of men and women who were willing to die for their beliefs.”
The Jackson family announced his passing on Tuesday after a long illness. He was 84 years old.
