Senator Marvin A. Blyden today issued a statement on the passing of Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., the renowned civil rights leader and two‑time Democratic presidential candidate, who passed away this morning at the age of 84.
“Rev. Jesse Jackson inspired me—as he inspired millions—when I first witnessed his presidential campaigns as a young man in 1984 and 1988,” Blyden said. “He showed that politics must put Black and brown people, women, working families, and all those long shut out of power at the center of our national vision, and this principle has guided my own work.”
Blyden noted that Jackson’s leadership grew from his work alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his participation in the Selma to Montgomery march, and his later efforts through Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition to expand political and economic opportunity. Jackson had strong ties to the territory and visited it many times, as he was close with a number of Virgin Islands student-athletes, including his roommate the late Irvin Mulcare, during his time at North Carolina A&T in the early 1960s.
“In today’s climate, when so many civil rights and civil liberties are under attack, Jesse Jackson’s vision still speaks powerfully to us in the Virgin Islands,” Blyden continued. “He believed in broad, inclusive coalitions that uplift every community. His legacy challenges us to keep working—right here at home—to build a Virgin Islands where justice, opportunity, and dignity truly belong to all of our people.”
Jackson’s family described him as a “servant leader… to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked,” noting that he died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones.
“In honoring Rev. Jackson, we must commit ourselves to the work he championed,” Blyden said. “Let us strive, every day, to make our community a better, fairer, and more hopeful place for all Virgin Islanders.”
