On May 15, 1984, hundreds of San Francisco residents squeezed into the meeting hall at the Valencia Rose, a Mission District hub known for queer and community organizing.

Across the country, voters were bracing for what would prove to be an inevitable second term for President Ronald Reagan. But that afternoon, people came to the Rose looking for something else.

They found it in Rev. Jesse Jackson.

For more than an hour, the Black Baptist minister and civil rights leader spoke to a packed crowd, vying for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. He was the only presidential candidate that year to campaign in the Mission District, where he shared a story from his childhood:

“American life is not like a blanket, something black or white or brown or yellow or gay or straight or Baptist or Methodist. American life is not some piece of unbroken cloth. American life is more like a quilt,” Jackson said, according to El Tecolote’s May 1984 issue.

“When I was growing up in South Carolina, my grandmother could not afford to buy a blanket, so she would make a quilt … While those pieces and patches were on the bed, separated, they were just rags. But then she would get thread and needle, and put them together. What were once just pieces of rag became a quilt of warmth and security and aesthetic beauty. And such is American life. Separated we are weak, but when we come together in the Rainbow (Coalition), bound by a common thread, we become the great American experience.”

Jackson died on Feb. 17 at 84. Many have reflected on his national legacy. Here is ours.

Jackson campaigns in the Mission, 1984

Those who gathered at the Rose were as diverse as the coalition Jackson was building. Representatives attended from Latinos for Jackson, the Association of Women from El Salvador (AMES), Black and White Men Together, Lesbians and Gays Against Racism, U.S. Out of El Salvador, the United Farm Workers, Casa El Salvador, Filipinos for Jackson, Jews for Jackson, the Real Alternatives Program (RAP), and many others.

From the start, Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition ran on a campaign of inclusion. He spoke of taxing the rich, defending affirmative action and bilingual education, restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, recognizing a Palestinian state, and opposing U.S. intervention in Central America. At a time when migrant workers were convenient scapegoats, he spoke up for them too.

“The fact is, every time there’s an economic crisis, there’s a panic. Some say the undocumented workers are comin’ across the border taking our jobs … Who do you know who wants to pick some grapes? Who do you know who wants to pick some tomatoes for Campbell Soup and have to live on a minimum wage of $1.96?”

“The fact is, undocumented workers are subsidizing our economy, not draining it,” Jackson continued. “These poor workers, they live 25 years less than other Americans. They have no health benefits. They live in hurt and disgrace. When we drink that soup, some of their blood is in that can. We cannot just stand idly by. We must support the undocumented worker.”

In a guest commentary that same month, writer Thomas Reyes noted that Jackson was running to represent those “who have never been adequately represented by anyone nor by any political party.” His growing base, Reyes wrote, included “Blacks, Asians, American Indians, Chicanos, Latinos, Anglos, women’s groups, the aged, youth, the poor, labor, progressive groups, environmentalists, and peace groups.”

Solidarity with migrants and Latin America

El Tecolote continued covering Jackson’s campaign in the months leading up to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Editorials detailed his platform: cutting off military aid to El Salvador, halting aid to the Contras in Nicaragua, restoring relations with Cuba, recognizing Palestinian statehood, opposing restrictions on abortion funding, and raising taxes on corporations and high earners.

In July 1984, Teco reported on Jackson’s march across the U.S.-Mexico border, where he rallied with roughly 2,000 supporters in Tijuana “in defense of immigrant rights and for peace in Central America.” The rally followed what was described as a “five-day peace offensive” to Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Cuba.

“We must end the war economy in Central America and build a peace economy,” Jackson said. “The money being used to mine the harbors in Nicaragua and to bomb El Salvador must be used to feed the hungry and educate our children.”

During the rally, Jackson also spoke out against the proposed Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill, later signed into law in 1986 as the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

“Undocumented workers don’t drain the economy, they sustain our economy… If undocumented workers left the field of California, U.S. agriculture would collapse,” he said. “We must not rest till we stop the Simpson-Mazzoli bill … As long as one side of the border has money and one has poverty, there will be immigration.”

Democrats disappoint

Jackson did not win the Democratic nomination in 1984. At the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, hosted between July 16-19, Walter Mondale secured the nomination. Spoiler alert: Mondale went on to lose in a landslide, winning only his home state of Minnesota and Washington, D.C.

El Tecolote was blunt.

“The highlight of the Democratic Convention was the stunning presentation by the Rainbow Coalition,” an August 1984 commentary read. The paper criticized major news media for portraying Jackson as a charismatic politician while divorcing him from the broader movement that propelled his campaign.

An accompanying editorial reflected the frustration of many progressives:

“We held our breath and rallied behind the Reverend Jesse Jackson as he shook the very foundations of American politics … But when Jackson led the Rainbow Coalition into the Democratic National Convention, only to come up empty-handed, it was another bitter pill to swallow … Again the Left felt co-opted.”

A second presidential run — and an endorsement 

Jackson ran again in 1988. This time, El Tecolote broke with its 17-year policy of not endorsing political candidates.

“With the emergence of Rev. Jesse Jackson as an important and influential candidate for president, El Tecolote has re-evaluated its position,” the June 1988 editorial read. “It is our opinion that Jesse Jackson deserves our support.”

The paper emphasized his opposition to English-only policies, restrictive immigration laws, and U.S. intervention in Latin America. That same issue featured photos of Jackson serving as Grand Marshal of the Cinco de Mayo Parade.

Forever an ally of the working class

Jackson appeared again in Teco’s archives in 1997, when an estimated 20,000 marched through Watsonville in support of strawberry pickers demanding fair working conditions and an end to sexual harassment. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Teamsters President John Carey and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta joined the march. Jackson was there, too.

“Today is a great expression of our freedom quest,” he proclaimed. “Today we gather to reclaim our struggle for humane priorities.” A photograph captured by late Teco photographer M.P.R. Howard shows Jackson and Huerta shoulder to shoulder.

To close, here’s a quote from that day in 1984, when Jackson was here, in the Mission, for us. 

“The only justification you have for looking down on somebody is if you’re going to stop to pick them up.” Using a sweeping motion of his arms, he cried out to the crowd. “If they’re down, pick them up!”

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The Teco Archives: For more than 55 years, El Tecolote has documented Latino political and cultural life in the Bay Area. This recurring column revisits those stories, connecting past struggles to the present moment.