Dear William Henry Jackson

From family stories and some books and articles.

I would have loved to know you

You are my inspiration

You were Louis Riel’s secretary for the Prince Albert region

You lost touch with reality as the rebellion approached

And Riel put you in chains for your own safety and that of the rebellion

You and your brother Thomas Eastwood Jackson, upstanding white people, were put in a cage on the street for treason through your role in the rebellion

The Metis Leader Louis Riel and others were hanged for treason.

You escaped from a Winnipeg mental institution and fled to the US to work in the labour movement

At the end, you managed an apartment building in New York City

And you died in a mental hospital.

I live with Bipolar and I know all too well what happens when my brain takes off in an unexpected direction.

And I also know what it feels like to live with a passion.

You went after your passions and for that I am humbled to be of your blood

To feel even slightly your passion for equity and fairness quenches my spirit.

Great uncles William Henry Jackson, Thomas Eastwood Jackson, and I are allies.

We share a passion.