Clayola Brown has spent her life working in the civil and labor rights movements.
Brown’s work put her in frequent contact with the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, from the time she was a young college student at Florida A&M University and first met Jackson, to her last conversations with him in recent years.
Now with the AFL-CIO and president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute in D.C., Brown described her reaction to the news of Jackson’s death by saying it was “the way you would react to losing a brother.” The tears came as she stood alone in a room, “not wanting to believe,” but knowing that this day would eventually come.
Brown said from their first meeting, when she called him “Geechee brother” — a nod to their mutual South Carolina roots — he immediately challenged her, asking her since she was from South Carolina, what was she ready to do within the civil rights movement.
Jackson was known for his passionate, inspirational oratory. But Brown said, he didn’t just talk the talk, he knew that speech was the fuel to generate action.
“Oh my God,” Brown told WTOP, “he did more than just the work, he gave the encouragement to others to work, and to understand why the work was important.”
Brown recalls being at meetings where Jackson would tell attendees that he expected to see all of them — and all the people they liked to hang out with — at the next event where their participation was needed.
“It was just that simple. We had our marching orders.” Brown said. “Because of his courage, many of us were empowered to do things that we thought we were not capable of achieving.”
One of the messages Jackson drove home was that when it came to making change, “it was more important to be about it, than just talking about it,” Brown said.
Brown became emotional as she recalled Jackson’s work with Operation PUSH, where Jackson would repeat the phrase he’d made famous in motivating young people, “I am. Somebody.”
Brown said Jackson’s ability to instill pride in young Black children was transformative.
“It’s amazing, the impact of just talking with young children the way he did,” Brown said. Jackson spoke frankly with them about racism and the impact it had on them. He’d ask them about hurtful comments that had been directed at them, she said.
“And see, now that’s going to make me cry, so I’m not going to go deep into that,” Brown said, but she continued anyway. She said Jackson would end each conversation with humor and a positive message. “He would make them laugh and have a good time before they left,” Brown said, knowing that the children were seen, heard and valued.
Brown said in her last conversation with Jackson, they talked about the current political climate, and he told her not to “fall for the scare,” because the person trying to instill fear is the most afraid. “I will remember that forever,” she said.
Her last message to Jackson came after she was told of his passing. Brown describes herself saying out loud, as if Jackson were with her, “Ok, now, fly. Organize there.”
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