A complaint that I have about the Democratic Party is that there isn’t a rallying cry. Republicans united under the Make America Great Again slogan, a simple phrase that resonates with others. They all have different definitions of great, but they are all striving to achieve “great.” Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, in her 2024 election run, ran under the slogans of “Let’s win this!” and “When we fight, we win!” There’s spirit in those slogans, sure, and on the surface, it doesn’t seem like a bad approach. However, it is missing one very important thing that Make America Great Again has:

“What are we fighting for?”

“What are we winning this election for?”

There are many reasons we can attribute Harris’s loss to Trump, but not having a clear, common goal for Democrats to rally behind is certainly one of them. There’s no hope, no vision, only a desire to fight.

But we need something to fight for. Something to pour that desire into.

I look at the impact of Jesse Jackson, a passionate civil rights activist who passed away Tuesday, Feb. 17th, at 84. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, Jackson picked up the civil rights mantle. Jackson ran for president twice before Obama’s 2008 run. Unfortunately, he never managed to achieve the presidency, but he still managed to have an impact because of three things:

Hope, a vision and the fire to act on it.

Jackson began his work as an organizer with the Congress of Racial Equality, working alongside Dr.King. He rallied student support for King and participated in many marches and sit-ins. In 1962, Jackson ran Operation Breadbasket, a program that brought together churches and ministers to build support for economic opportunities in black communities. In his speeches at the 1984 and 1988 Democratic Conventions, he preached the need to find common ground among all Americans. Jackson urged Democrats and others to “keep hope alive.” This zeal inspired the progressive direction that the Democratic Party followed throughout the 20th century. 

Before his passing, Jackson had spoken about many politicians, including Obama, whom he believed his message could come off as “talking down to black people,” saying that his message should have a broader appeal to the rest of the United States.

“What we really need is racial justice, urban policy, jobs, and healthcare. There are a range of issues on the menu,” he said.

He also made his opinions very clear about what he felt about Trump’s presidency, saying, “Fifty years of civil rights has been threatened.”

With Jackson’s passing, we lost a passionate leader and an admirable man. However, during this time of mourning, we can look at what he fought for and how he fought for it. With action, passion, and vision, he made real, lasting change in the United States. The Democratic Party most certainly has passion and action, but it is missing that vision. The vision is the most important part of this whole thing, and in the end, it makes passion and action pointless. You can introduce policies, create laws, and make change, but without a view of what we are fighting for, people won’t rally behind you.

The Democratic Party needs a united vision. Moreover, with that vision, real hope and real change can blossom in the United States.