Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader whose public life spanned over six decades and redefined American politics, passed on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.
A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson rose to national prominence during the Civil Rights Movement, organizing voter registration drives, advocating for economic justice and expanding political representation. He eventually also founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based international non profit advocating for civil rights and social justice, and mounted two presidential campaigns in both 1984 and 1988, becoming one of the first Black candidates to win significant support in a major party primary contest.
Beyond shifting the political landscape, Jackson stood for nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, as well as dedicated civic participation. His career spanned across street demonstrations to electoral politics. However, in a poll of 75 Upper School students, 43 (57.3%) students had never heard of Jackson at all, while 25 (33.3%) had heard of him, 6 (8%) were somewhat familiar, and only 1 (1.3%) was very familiar. The result reflects how civic memory can fade, even as many students continue to navigate the questions Jackson devoted his life to.
Nevertheless, his death, coinciding with Black History Month, comes at a moment where questions of civic responsibility have circled prominently on Poly’s campus.
On Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, students across Pasadena participated in a regional walkout protesting federal immigration enforcement policies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), coinciding with similar protests and walkouts happening across the country. While the demonstration wasn’t organized or condoned by the school, many Poly students joined peers from nearby campuses in leaving class, bringing their posters to Pasadena City Hall. In the same poll, 34% of respondents reported participating in the Jan. 30 walkout.
While the walkout reflected many students’ desire to stand in solidarity with immigrants, Poly has experienced more than one incident of racist vandalism within the last few years.
Last year, a racially derogatory term was found in a boys’ bathroom. This year, the administration held a class meeting for the class of 2029 after a racial slur was found in a freshman science classroom. For some students, conversations clarified the distinction between harm and protest, shaping the way they approached the walkout and informing their right to peaceful demonstration beyond campus.
While these events differ in cause and context, both have augmented conversations about the way Poly students engage in civic participation.
When asked whether they feel comfortable expressing political or social views on campus, 39% of students who responded to The Paw Print’s poll, said “always,” 46% said “sometimes,” and 15% said “rarely.”
“I think it has become more important now that we have those uncomfortable conversations because it makes us less passive to the inequalities in our society,” Black Student Union (BSU) president and senior Elissa Henry shared. “I am not afforded the privilege to turn a blind eye to it, since remaining silent directly affects my community and me. I hope to see students use their voices and knowledge to enact real, meaningful change.”
Throughout the 1960s, nonviolent protest sought to confront segregation and disenfranchisement through public demonstration. Eventually, in later decades, Jackson worked alongside an effort to institutionalize that activism in the form of voter registration efforts, and coalition building across racial and economic barriers.
At Poly, where recent months have included both public protest and incidents that challenged the school’s sense of belonging, Jackson’s passing situates current debates within a longer history of civic struggle. His life traced the relationship between protest and policy, urgency and endurance.
As students continue to define what responsible engagement looks like in their own community, that history provides perspective on the demands and possibilities of participation in public life.
“Within a school community and outside of it, solidarity means not hesitating to stand up for someone else, not judging someone before getting to know them, giving others the opportunity to be seen and heard, caring about the experiences of others and respecting cultures that differ from your own,” shared BSU Advisor Karen Barton. “It’s easy to verbalize support or discuss historical figures or moments, but seeing people treated the way they should be treated is what activists like Dr. King and Rev. Jackson really wanted.”
