Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions.
That line from Barack Obama landed heavy as he spoke during the funeral service honoring Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson. The former president used his remarks to reflect on Jackson’s lifelong fight for justice while also speaking directly to the political climate many Americans are watching unfold today.
Obama told mourners that the current moment can feel overwhelming.
“Another setback to the idea of the rule of law. An offense to common decency,” Obama said. “Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.”
He also warned about the growing push to divide people against each other.
“Each day we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other and that some Americans count more than others and that some don’t even count at all,” Obama said.
Then he took the message further.
“Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength,” he said. “We see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards.”
Obama admitted that moments like this can make it hard to stay hopeful.
“So it may be tempting to get discouraged, to give in to cynicism,” he said. “It may be tempting for some to compromise with power and grab what you can, or even for good people to maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass.”
But he said Jesse Jackson’s life showed people another option.
“But this man, Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path,” Obama said. “His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope.”
Obama said Jackson’s example challenged people to step forward wherever they have influence, whether that is in their schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, or cities. Not for recognition, he said, but because standing up for what is right gives life meaning.
“Not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed,” Obama said. “But because it gives our life purpose, because it aligns what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don’t step up, no one else will.”
Obama closed by honoring Jackson’s decision to answer that call again and again throughout his life.
“How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call,” he said. “What a great debt we owe to him.”
May he rest in peace.
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