Remembering Jesse Jackson

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The late Reverend Jesse Jackson was — and still is — a revered civil rights activist, political trailblazer, and pop culture icon. For his critics, he was also villainized, or at the very least, a punchline. As Jackson's home going ceremony continues, we take some time to remember how Jackson shaped American politics with journalist Adam Serwer, who warns us not to flatten Jackson into a cliche or caricature.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
0:05.4	investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish.
0:11.1	More information is available at Hewlett.org.
0:15.0	Hey, everyone, you're listening to Code Switch from NPR. I'm Bea Parker.
0:20.4	And I'm Gene Demby. We are just a few days into more than a week
0:24.3	of memorial services and homegoings honoring the life of Reverend Jesse Jackson, from Chicago to South
0:31.8	Carolina to Washington, D.C., and back again. Reverend Jackson died on February 17th at the age of 84, and his passing
0:40.9	has brought about a discussion of his legacy and how we should be remembering him. And it's brought
0:46.4	up a lot of personal memories for me. Growing up, I knew him as the Keep Hope Alive man from a framed
0:52.5	autograph that my great aunt keeps in her living room. Keep Hope Alive man from a framed autograph that my great aunt keeps in her living
0:55.0	room.
0:55.8	Keep Hope Alive being the famous quote from his 1988 keynote address at the Democratic National
1:01.3	Convention.
1:02.2	You must not surrender.
1:04.6	You may or may not get there, but just know that you are qualified and you hold on and hold out.
1:12.4	We must never surrender.
1:14.6	America will get better and better.
1:18.0	Keep hope alive.
1:20.1	Keep hope alive.
1:22.1	Gene, how did you first encounter Reverend Jackson?
1:25.6	I mean, I think that might have been it.
1:27.4	Like, I was really, really young.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.