Civil Rights Icon Jesse Jackson Passes Away at 84, Family Confirms

Renowned civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has died at age 84, according to his family. The Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate had been battling Parkinson's disease since 2017.

Legendary civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84, his family confirmed Tuesday in a public 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 said.

The influential Baptist minister, who had called Chicago home for many years, received his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 2017.

Jackson became a prominent voice for African American rights and other underserved populations during the transformative civil rights era of the 1960s, working closely under the guidance of his mentor, Martin Luther King Jr., the renowned Baptist preacher and social justice champion.

Despite facing various scandals throughout his career, Jackson maintained his position as the nation’s leading civil rights advocate for many decades.

His political aspirations led him to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination twice, in 1984 and 1988, where he energized Black voters and progressive white supporters with surprisingly competitive campaigns, though he ultimately did not become the first African American to secure a major party’s presidential nomination. Throughout his career, he never won elected office.

The activist established two Chicago-headquartered civil rights organizations: Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition. During the 1990s, he served as a special diplomatic representative to Africa under Democratic President Bill Clinton. Jackson also played key roles in negotiating the freedom of numerous Americans and foreign nationals detained in countries such as Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Serbia.

POWERFUL SPEAKING ABILITY

During the 1980s, Jackson leveraged his captivating speaking skills to advance his political goals. No other African American candidate achieved Jackson’s level of success in pursuing a major party presidential nomination until Barack Obama, also from Chicago, won the presidency in 2008.

During his 1984 campaign, Jackson secured 3.3 million votes in Democratic primary elections, representing approximately 18% of total votes cast, placing third behind eventual nominee Walter Mondale and Gary Hart in the contest to challenge Republican President Ronald Reagan. His campaign suffered setbacks after reports emerged that Jackson had used derogatory terms when referring to Jewish people and New York City in private conversations.

Four years later in 1988, Jackson presented himself as a more refined and mainstream contender, finishing as runner-up in the Democratic primary race against Republican George H.W. Bush. Jackson provided strong competition to eventual Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, capturing victories in 11 state primaries and caucuses, particularly in Southern states, and earning 6.8 million votes in primary contests, representing 29% of the total.

Jackson positioned himself as someone who would break down barriers for minorities, the economically disadvantaged, and those without political power. He delivered a memorable address at the 1988 Democratic convention, sharing his personal journey and urging Americans to seek unity.

“America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth,” Jackson told the delegates in Atlanta.

“Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don’t you surrender. Suffering breeds character, character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint,” Jackson added.

At age 76 in 2017, Jackson revealed his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, a neurological condition characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity, and impaired balance and movement coordination, noting he had experienced symptoms for three years prior to the announcement.

CHILDHOOD IN THE SOUTH

Jackson entered the world on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, born to a 16-year-old high school student mother and a 33-year-old married neighbor. His mother subsequently wed another man who legally adopted Jackson. His childhood unfolded during America’s Jim Crow period, a system of harsh racist legislation and customs primarily originating in the South designed to oppress Black Americans.

After receiving a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, Jackson transferred to a historically Black institution due to what he described as discriminatory treatment. His civil rights involvement began during his time at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College, where he faced arrest for attempting to access a segregated public library in South Carolina.

Jackson studied at Chicago Theological Seminary and received Baptist ministerial ordination in 1968, despite not completing his degree requirements.

He became a trusted aide to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and frequently accompanied him on travels. When King was murdered by white assassin James Earl Ray on the balcony of Memphis’s Lorraine Motel, Jackson was present one floor below. Jackson angered some of King’s other colleagues when he told media he had held the dying King and was the final person King addressed, claims they challenged.

King, who led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, had appointed the dynamic Jackson to a leadership position focused on creating economic opportunities within Black communities.

Following disagreements with King’s SCLC successor Ralph Abernathy, Jackson established his own civil rights organization in Chicago called Operation PUSH during the early 1970s. In 1984, he created the National Rainbow Coalition, which expanded civil rights advocacy to include women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, with both organizations combining in 1996. After more than fifty years of leadership and advocacy, he resigned as president of the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition in 2023.

Jackson married Jacqueline Brown, whom he met during college, in 1962, and they raised five children together. Their son Jesse Jackson Jr. won election to the U.S. House of Representatives but later resigned and served prison time following a fraud conviction. Jackson also fathered a daughter in 1999 with a staff member from his civil rights organizations, creating a public scandal.

Jackson gained recognition for his diplomatic efforts. Following his successful 1984 negotiation for Syria’s release of U.S. naval aviator Robert Goodman Jr., President Ronald Reagan welcomed Jackson to the White House and thanked him for his “mission of mercy.” In 1990, Jackson met with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to secure freedom for hundreds of Americans and others following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. He also facilitated the 1984 release of numerous Cuban and American prisoners from Cuban facilities and the 1999 release of three U.S. airmen detained in Serbia.

From 1992 to 2000, he hosted a weekly CNN program, advocated for corporate initiatives supporting Black economic advancement, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian recognition, from Clinton in 2000.

Even in his later years, Jackson remained active in social justice causes, speaking out against the police killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans during the 2020 global racial justice protests.