Rev. Jesse Jackson, a prominent figure in the American civil rights movement who turned his celebrity into a decades-long media career, died Tuesday morning at the age of 84. His family confirmed he passed while surrounded by loved ones.
“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. He died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family,” the family said in a statement.
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family added. “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.”
Jackson had battled serious health problems for years, including Parkinson’s disease, which he disclosed in 2017, as well as a rare degenerative neurological disorder, progressive supranuclear palsy. Despite both conditions weakening his voice and mobility, he remained active in politics and was arrested twice in 2021 during disruptive protests in Washington, D.C.
Jackson was born Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, and grew up in a segregated community. He was arrested at 18 for participating in a sit-in at a public library — his first act of civil disobedience and the beginning of a career in political activism.
Jackson joined Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement in Alabama and quickly rose to become a key figure in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson was in Memphis in 1968 when King was assassinated.
In the years that followed, Jackson founded what became the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, focusing on civil rights, voter registration, and economic empowerment. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice. In 1984, he won under 20 percent of the primary vote after he made an antisemitic remark about New York’s Jewish community. Jackson initially blamed a “Jewish conspiracy” for his loss before apologizing.
In 1988, he won less than 30% of the total primary votes and finished second in multiple Super Tuesday contests to Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who was later defeated by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in a landslide.
Jackson never held elected office, but remained a powerful establishment figure in Democratic politics for decades.
In 2001, Jackson publicly acknowledged fathering a daughter out of wedlock, Ashley, in an extramarital affair with an employee at his organization.
Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said “our nation lost one of its greatest moral voices” and remembered Jackson as a man who “carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice.”
Jackson is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; their children Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline; daughter Ashley; and his grandchildren.