The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a widely respected U.S. civil rights leader, has died at the age 84. His family said in a statement that Jackson “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.”
He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader in Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson was actually present when King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968.
That year, he was ordained a minister. Later, he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree by Chicago Theological Seminary in 2000, based on a mix of earned credits and his work and life experience.
Jackson later launched two social justice and activism organisations. In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH, followed in 1984 by the National Rainbow Coalition, which merged with PUSH in 1996.
While known for his civil rights activism, Jackson also ran for president in 1984, becoming the second African American to do so after Shirley Chisholm. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination that year and again in 1988, but didn’t win the nomination.
In 2017, at Cannes Lions, Jackson called out Hollywood and Silicon Valley for their lack of diversity and pushed the audience — made up mostly of advertisers and marketers — to use their media reach to promote positive messages for women, people of color and the LGBTQ community.
Jackson’s high-profile work also attracted the entertainment industry’s attention in other ways. Actors who have portrayed Jackson on screen include Nigel Gibbs in the TV series Monster (2022) and Elden Henson in the movie She’s All That( 1999). Eddie Murphy famously parodied Jackson on Saturday Night Live in 1984.
Plus, the Reverend appeared as himself in a 1989 episode of A Different World episode.
In 2017, Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He was hospitalized in November after being diagnosed with a degenerative condition.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Civil Rights leader and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr.,” the Jackson family statement said. “He died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family. His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity. A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilising millions to register to vote – leaving an indelible mark on history.”
It continued: “Reverend Jackson is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; their children – Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, Jacqueline; daughter Ashley Jackson, and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother, Helen Burns Jackson; father, Noah Louis Robinson; and stepfather, Charles Henry Jackson.”
Concluded the family statement: “Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world. We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.’ Public observances will be held in Chicago. Final arrangements for Reverend Jackson’s celebration of life services, including all public events, will be released by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.”
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