- A close ally of Martin Luther King Jr., he dedicated his life to fighting racial inequality through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
- He made history as one of the first Black candidates to mount a serious campaign for the US Democratic presidential nomination.
- Despite battling Parkinson’s disease, he continued his advocacy until the end, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.
Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of America’s most prominent civil rights leaders and a two-time candidate for the United States (US) presidency, has died at the age of 84.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that his family announced that he passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his loved ones.
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Jackson had been battling serious health problems for several years.
In 2017, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a condition that gradually limits movement and daily activities. More recently, doctors confirmed he was also suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative condition, after he was hospitalised for observation in November.
Born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson came into the world under difficult circumstances. His mother was just 16 and unmarried when she gave birth to him. In his teenage years, she married Charles Jackson, and the young Jesse took on his stepfather’s surname — the name by which the world would come to know him.
A bright student, Jackson earned a football scholarship to the University of Illinois before transferring to the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina, where he graduated in 1964. He later studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary but left to join the civil rights movement, eventually receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 2000 in recognition of his life’s work.
Jackson became a close associate of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., earning a place in his inner circle and heading the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Chicago chapter. In a now-iconic photograph, Jackson stands on the balcony of Memphis’ Lorraine Motel alongside King and fellow leaders. The very next day, at almost the same spot, King was shot dead by an assassin.
Following King’s death, Jackson founded PUSH — People United to Save Humanity — and later The Rainbow Coalition, organisations dedicated to social justice and political representation. The two merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
His political ambitions brought him to the national stage when he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, winning several states and demonstrating that a Black candidate could compete seriously at the highest level of American politics. His 1984 campaign was marred, however, by an antisemitic remark about New York’s Jewish community that drew widespread condemnation.
Jackson extended his influence internationally, helping secure the release of foreign nationals held in Kuwait ahead of the Gulf War and serving as a special envoy under President Bill Clinton. In 2000, Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.
When Barack Obama was elected America’s first Black president in 2008, Jackson was seen weeping with emotion, reflecting on the sacrifices made by those who had marched and died for the rights that made such a victory possible.
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His family said his “unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity.” He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Jacqueline, and six children.
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