The somber dancing light from the candles in the Multicultural Center portrayed the mood as family, friends and faculty came together on Friday to celebrate the life of Pierce College student Shandani Jackson. Jackson died on May 4 at age 41.
Jackson was a mother of two and the vice president of the Pi chapter of the Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS) honor society. In 2021, Jackson was a part of the Roundup News staff in the spring semester.
Kaycea Campbell, faculty adviser of AGS, spoke of Jackson.
“It’s almost like we can sense her presence in terms of her joy, smile and her laugh,” Campbell said. “And that is what I’ve been holding on to. I’ve had this little sliver of light that remains with us, and will continue to remain and shine on this campus.”
Incoming AGS Vice President Noor Kalla spoke to the mourning crowd.
“Shandani was always smiling, she was always happy,” Kalla said. “She was always in a good mood, she wanted to make others smile. Even though I only knew her for a short while, she was an inspiration to me.”
After the ceremony, the crowd walked outside to Rocky Young Park to have a moment of silence and hear additional comments from friends and family.
“My last memory of her was that we were laughing about what we are going to do next after graduation,” AGS President Dia James said. “We were going to go see Kevin Hart at the Hollywood Bowl today. I was taking her because I knew how hard she was working, so my last memory was preparing to go to that show just a couple days ago. It was good she was laughing, we were laughing.”
Nicholas Ray, Jackson’s younger brother, spoke of when they were kids.
“My sister used to walk me to school, and on the way she used to break down lyrics of songs to me, what they meant,” Ray said. “She would make me write songs to test me. She loved music and she knew I wanted to make music. She would basically teach me how to make music.”
People spoke of Jackson’s tenacity, desire to help and outgoing personality.
“Seeing everything that happened today is seeing a part of my sister that we didn’t know existed,” Ray said. “We didn’t think it was possible for her to be a brighter light than we knew her to be, and hearing all these peoples’ experiences with her is going to have an everlasting effect on our memories of her.”
A GoFundMe is available to support the family.
A Mental Health Crisis Line is available by calling 988.
