Rev. Al Sharpton on the passing of his mentor, Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson

The Mississippi Link Newswire,

Today, February 17, 2026 I lost the man who first called me into purpose when I was just twelve years old. And our nation lost one of its greatest moral voices. The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson was not simply a civil rights leader; he was a movement unto himself. He carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice. One of the greatest honors of my life was learning at his side. He reminded me that faith without action is just noise. He taught me that protest must have purpose, that faith must have feet, and that justice is not seasonal, it is daily work.

In 1969, when I was still a teenager trying to find my place in this struggle, Rev. Jackson appointed me youth director of the Brooklyn branch of Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He trusted me with responsibility and saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. That is the measure of a true mentor: they do not just teach you; they name you.

He later named the headquarters of National Action Network “The House of Justice,” a reminder that movements must be anchored in moral purpose. Through Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition, he expanded the political imagination of this nation. He ran for President not because it was easy, but because he believed America could be better than its history. In doing so, he opened doors that many of us, me included, who followed in his footsteps and ran for President.

But to me, he was more than a public figure. He was Godfather to my two daughters. He prayed over them as infants. He spoke life into them as young girls. We stood in his home not as a headline, but as family. He taught them, and me, that trying is as important as triumph. That you do not wait for the dream to come true; you work to make it real. Because of him, I learned that leadership is not about being seen, it is about seeing others. Because of him, I learned that our lives mean the most when they are spent widening the circle of who belongs.

Reverend Jackson stood wherever dignity was under attack, from apartheid abroad to injustice at home. His voice echoed in boardrooms and in jail cells. His presence shifted rooms. His faith never wavered.

Today, I grieve not only a leader, but the steady voice that guided me when the road was uncertain. I am heartbroken. But I am eternally grateful that God allowed me to walk beside a man who helped bend the arc of history and shaped the arc of my own life.

Today we mourn. But we do not retreat. We pray for the Jackson family to carry the torch. The greatest way to honor Reverend Jesse Jackson is not in memory alone, but in movement. He taught us to keep marching. He taught us to keep organizing. He taught us that justice is never given, it is demanded.

Rest now, Reverend Jackson. I love you.
Rev. Al Sharpton