Carol Mosely Braun was elected the first Black woman to the U.S. Senate in 1992. She credits Jackson's presidential runs in the 1980s for giving her the ability to make history.
"He broke barriers and gave people the notion that they could do, they could be what they wanted to be. And that was inspirational to me," Braun said.
Jackson died on Tuesday at 84 years old, surrounded by family in Chicago, after a lengthy battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP.
Years before her 1992 victory, Braun was a volunteer for Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign. While he ran in 1984, it was his 1988 campaign that opened the doors for generations of Black politicians.
"We began to see people elected in places like Delaware and in Utah, and other places that you've not necessarily seen or would expect to see a Black elected official," said Urban League President Karen Freeman-Wilson.
Freeman-Wilson and Braun say the doors also opened because Jackson built a coalition to register people to vote and get them to the polls.
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"Jesse Jackson inspired people to participate in a process that many people have, frankly, given up on, and he gave them hope that that they could participate and change the government. And they did," Braun said.
They say Jackson was not just a champion for Black people. He was more of a champion of the poor.
Delmarie Cobb was Jackson's traveling press secretary for his 1988 campaign. She says he also changed the Democratic Party.
"Jackson pushed for the big tent because that was not the Democratic Party deciding that; that was Jackson deciding that," Cobb said.
And Jackson successfully changed Democratic Party rules at conventions from winner take all to a nominee getting a proportion of the delegates based on votes. The change led to Barack Obama's nomination 20 years later.
Braun, Father Michael Pfleger and others say the best way to honor Jackson is to register more voters before the midterm elections and make sure they get to the polls.