July 24, 2010

Dear Colleagues and Friends: With deep regret I write to inform you that our sister and colleague Dr. Melanie Njeri Jackson, passed away yesterday at 6:15pm after a five year battle with cancer. Dr. Jackson was Director of the African American Studies Program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her daughters note that NJERI grew up in the projects of Protrero Hill and in low income and working class neighborhoods in San Francisco. A graduate of Clark-Atlanta University in 1987, Njeri was a scholar-activist who dedicated herself to the study of health policies to enable transformation on the ground. She is and was respected for mentoring the careers of younger scholars and colleagues. She also helped establish the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Her research focused on issues of health, with particular interest in policies affecting women and the poor. Andrea Simpson reports that Dr. Jackson received the following awards for her dedication to others:

• Olive Harvey College Award for Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship
• Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Scholar · Outstanding Community Service Award, APSA
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award, VCU
• Woman of the Year Award, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Fannie Lou Hamer Award for Community, National Conference of Black Political Scientists

As part of her battle with the disease, Njeri’s family organized a campaign called Courageous Compassion. The Executive Council of NCOBPS was glad to provide a small monetary contribution to it to assist. Her family and friends also set up a website through Caringbridge.com, where people were able to write tributes and make contributions to assist in her struggle. It remains active. The site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/njerisbridge/tributes. You might want to visit the site to write a note and/or make a contribution posthumously to support her daughters and granddaughter as they make arrangements. Donations can also be sent through Pay Pal at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=njeri%40comcast%2enet&lc=US&item_name=Melanie%20%2aCourageous%20Compassion%2a¤cy_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHostedGuest . Her daughter Tayari can be reached at tkimya@gmail.com or 310-902-0305 in Los Angeles.

Njeri was last with NCOBPS at the 2008 meeting in Chicago where she, Ricky Hill, and Tim Black put on display the passion, depth, and commitment they all hold for the liberation struggles of Black people. Njeri ‘s presentation and interaction with members of NCOBPS at the "Town Hall Meeting” in the days leading to the election of Barack Obama, were stirring as she talked about Black peoples’ struggles, women’s struggles, Black women’s struggles, and poor peoples’ struggles. She demonstrated why so many of her colleagues and friends have held her in high regard. We have lost one of the bright lights of our community and it is a time to mourn. It is also a time to reflect on her life, your encounters with her if you had any, and to think and act on the ways that we can pick up her saber, and march forth in the struggles she fought so valiantly for. NCOBPS has a Facebook page where you might go to share your thoughts: http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?edit_members=&gid=37195738580&tab=requested#!/group.php?gid=37195738580.

 We miss you Sister Jackson. Now take your Rest.

On behalf of the Members and Executive Council of NCOBPS,

James Lance Taylor President