Among the more moving tributes to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the days after his death last week were the endless number of selfies that popped up on social media. Athletes, entertainers, politicians, business leaders, nurses, preachers and teachers were all posting pictures documenting the time they met the global icon who believed he could make a difference, and did. I almost wished I had taken a picture the time I interviewed him about voting rights, economic injustice, environmental racism or whatever cause it was he was fighting for that day. But that was in an era before cell phone cameras, and before journalists thought it was OK to pose for posterity with the subject of their story. To confess, I do have a cherished picture of me interviewing Rosa Parks, but only because the photographer I was working with thought I might like a keepsake of the career highlight. Thanks, again. And while we’re on the subject of thank yous, how about a few big ones to a tireless, true freedom fighter who stood on the front lines as long as anyone can remember. Jackson’s activism is documented in black-and-white newsreels, Polaroid pictures and Instagram posts, evidence that his messages of hope, self-love and empowerment transcended time. Jesse Jackson gives a press conference on May 7, 1985, in front of posters saying "No" to cruise and Pershing missiles being deployed in Europe amid the Cold War and "Hands off Nicaragua" at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. (Photo by Marcel MOCHET / AFP) (Photo by MARCEL MOCHET/AFP via Getty Images) “From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement. “Reverend Jackson also created opportunities for generations of African Americans and inspired countless more, including us. Michelle got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager. And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land.” Who can forget the moving images of Jackson openly weeping among a crowd of supporters in Chicago’s Grant Park when Obama was officially elected the nation’s first Black president in 2008. 1968APKing with other civil rights leaders, including Jesse Jackson (second from l.), on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. Jackson’s own presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 had paved the way for that historic moment. If there is anybody in America who finally deserves to be at rest, it is Jesse Jackson. There was no more we could ask of him. He sat in at segregated lunch counters, marched on Washington in 1963 and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965. He was a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and was chatting with him at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when the murderous shot rang out. Rev. Jesse JacksonMark Humphrey/APRev. Jesse Jackson stands on the motel balcony on Feb. 14, 2018, the location where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. in 1968. He delivered the eulogy for Jackie Robinson, and fought to end apartheid in South Africa. He was the shadow senator for Washington, D.C. He told us to “Keep hope alive.” Jackson will lie in state later this week at his Rainbow PUSH headquarters in Chicago. And, if there is anybody who deserves to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol for all of America to honor, it is Jackson. But House Speaker Mike Johnson denied the family’s request for that tribute, citing precedent over how other high-profile deaths were handled. And, while it is true that the same request was rejected for Vice President Dick Cheney and political activist Charlie Kirk when they died, the Capitol Rotunda was roped off for Rosa Parks and the Rev. Billy Graham. “Mike Johnson will defend a president who wants to unlawfully nationalize elections, but won’t authorize a civil rights legend to lie in honor,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “That tells you everything you need to know about Mike Johnson and his gross disregard for our Constitution and our democracy.” But even in death, Jackson has an answer for those who would still disrespect him. “I am somebody,” he would say. “Keep hope alive.” ...read more read less