Namibians remember Jesse Jackson’s visit to Namibia

“Mandela is out of jail and Sam Nujoma is in office.”

This was what a smiling Jesse Jackson said to journalists as he landed in Namibia in February 1990, just a few days before the country’s independence.

The American civil rights leader and former anti-apartheid advocate died at age 84 on Tuesday.

Jackson was a prominent figure in the United States civil rights movement, often paralleling the struggle for liberation in Africa.

His visit to Namibia had followed a meeting with Nelson Mandela in South Africa that same year.

He was received with a warm welcome from Namibia’s late founding president Sam Nujoma a day before Nujoma’s inauguration in Windhoek.

“Welcome to Namibia, welcome home,” said the former Swapo leader as he embraced Jackson.

“It is so good to see you.

I am so proud of you,” Jackson said.

Since his death, messages of condolences have been pouring in from around the world, including from president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and other Namibians who knew him.

Nandi-Ndaitwah in a press statement says Jackson’s death marks the end of a remarkable chapter in the global struggle for justice, equality and human dignity, adding that he was a towering figure of the civil rights and the anti-apartheid movements and a principled voice for the oppressed across the world.

“During the years when Swapo was leading the struggle for the liberation and independence of Namibia, reverend Jesse Jackson stood among the many principled voices within the American civil rights movement who supported that just cause.

“At a time when many Namibian comrades were mobilising international solidarity, including in the United States (US), he and others lent their moral authority and public voice to the call for freedom, justice and total emancipation,” she says.

The president adds that Jackson’s voice, influence and moral conviction helped draw global attention to the injustices of apartheid and colonial domination.

Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani calls Jackson a beacon of hope to the oppressed people of the world.

“We remember a tireless, gigantic figure in the civil rights movement in the US and beyond, a beacon of hope to the oppressed people of the world and advocate against colonialism and apartheid.

Jackson has served his cause with dedication and commitment and may his soul rest,” says Venaani.

The Namibian’s founding editor, Gwen Lister, describes Jackson as a “larger-than-life” figure whose activism extended beyond American borders.

Lister says Jackson maintained strong ties with Namibia’s liberation movement and consistently supported Swapo during the country’s struggle for independence.

Lister met Jackson several times in the US and in Namibia, including during the historic announcement of Namibia’s 1989 election results.

“Jackson was always very active in the civil rights movement in the US. And so, he was always incredibly supportive of human rights, basically everywhere,” she says.

“At the occasion, he greeted me saying, ‘greetings, fellow freedom fighter’, and I thought it was cool at the time.”

Lister says the current leadership around the world can learn from his commitment and consistency to causes and principles that matter: people’s lives, dignity, justice and equal rights which everybody deserves.

“I think he was unwavering in that commitment over the decades.

He was an amazing person who honestly contributed to the civil rights movement in the United States,” she says.

Although she mostly met him in work settings, she says Jackson was always welcoming and engaging.

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