Fresh reflections have emerged following renewed global conversations about the legacy of Rev. Jesse Jackson, with Nigerian writer and former presidential adviser Babafemi Ojudu offering a deeply personal account that blends admiration with criticism.
In a widely circulated piece titled Heroes Are Not Saints, Ojudu praised Jackson’s historic role in the American civil rights movement but also recounted an experience that left him “bewildered, disappointed, and deeply hurt.”
“News of the death of Jesse Jackson has prompted a flood of tributes across the world,” Ojudu wrote. “Many of them rightly celebrate a man who stood, for decades, at the barricades of the struggle for civil rights in the United States.”
He acknowledged that Jackson “helped change the moral vocabulary of a nation,” adding, “That much is beyond dispute.”
However, Ojudu urged a more nuanced reflection on public figures. “As we mourn him, it may also be time to remember a truth we often resist: heroes are not saints,” he stated. “We prefer marble statues to living flesh, myths to men.”
The writer then turned to a personal episode dating back to 1995, when he was on fellowship at Howard University in Washington, D.C., during the military regime of General Sani Abacha in Nigeria. According to Ojudu, he and two colleagues were invited to appear on a television program associated with Jackson to discuss Nigeria’s political crisis.
“What happened instead stunned us,” he wrote. “For reasons never fully explained, we were turned away from the studio.”
Shortly afterward, reports surfaced that Jackson was engaging with the Abacha regime. Ojudu referenced Jackson’s visit to Nigeria, where he led a delegation that included then U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun. The visit drew criticism from pro-democracy activists who believed such engagement risked legitimising a government widely accused of human rights abuses.
“For those of us who had seen friends imprisoned, tortured, or silenced, it was difficult to understand,” Ojudu noted.
Still, he stopped short of condemning the civil rights leader outright. Instead, he framed the episode as a lesson in the complexity of leadership and legacy.
“Jesse Jackson was not a saint. But he was a consequential man,” he wrote. “He helped expand the space of freedom in the world, and millions walked through doors he helped open.”
Ojudu concluded with a broader reflection on public figures and collective memory: “Do not worship your heroes. Admire them, yes… But never forget that they are human beings, subject to the same weaknesses, misjudgments, and contradictions that mark us all.”
The piece has sparked conversation online, with readers debating how history should balance admiration for transformative achievements with scrutiny of controversial decisions.
Post a Comment