The passing of Helen Burns Jackson is a loss to all of us who grew up under the mentorship of her son Rev. Jesse Jackson and were lucky enough to have experienced her overriding encouragement. She was undoubtedly a deeply spiritual and compassionate woman and a freedom fighter in her own right.
I have known her since I was 13 years old as her son’s youth director in New York, and as I grew in age, we never lost contact and she never stopped encouraging and advising those of us in the civil rights movement. She was the matriarch of the movement in the 70’s and 80’s and up until now.
I visited her with Rev. Jackson last Monday in the hospital and saw her weakening condition but that does not lessen the sense of loss upon hearing of her transition.
May she rest in peace.
