As the speech indicated, Jackson, who died on Tuesday at age 84, was not only a civil rights activist. For over seven decades, he was also a renowned fighter for peace, for voting rights, for labor rights, and for a Democratic Party that worked for the people, not the powerful. “Jackson’s legacy is so rich, and extends across so many generations and struggles, that it cannot be contained in one reflection,” our executive editor, John Nichols, wrote this week in his obituary.

Jackson ran historic campaigns for president in 1984 and ‘88, but “his historic journey began in the humblest of circumstances,” wrote Robert Borosage. Born in the Jim Crow South, Jackson went from being the youngest member of MLK’s SCLC leadership group to a key figure in the struggle for justice around the world. We will always feel honored to have had Jackson as a friend and contributor.

-Alana Pockros

Associate Editor, The Nation

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