*Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, whose decades-long crusade for racial and economic justice made him one of the most influential civil rights leaders in modern American history, has died at the age of 84.
The AP reports that Jackson died Tuesday at his Chicago residence with family by his side, his daughter Santita Jackson confirmed. The family released a statement calling him a “servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world.” They added, “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family.”
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson rose to prominence during the Civil Rights Movement as a close ally of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Following King’s assassination, he stepped into a leading role as one of the nation’s most recognizable voices championing equality and opportunity.
Jackson went on to build the organization that would become the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, using it as a platform to challenge corporate and government leaders on issues of employment, education, healthcare, and voting access. His iconic rallying cry captured his mission of empowerment: “I may be poor, but I am Somebody; I may be young; but I am Somebody; I may be on welfare, but I am Somebody.”
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He carried that same energy into national politics with Democratic presidential bids in 1984 and 1988. His 1988 campaign concluded with a second-place primary finish, marking a groundbreaking achievement for a Black candidate in a major party race. He subsequently represented the District of Columbia as a shadow delegate and shadow senator from 1991 through 1997.
A rare neurological condition in his later years impacted his mobility and speech, yet Jackson continued to show up, attending the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and speaking out on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Rev. Al Sharpton honored his legacy, saying Jackson “was not simply a civil rights leader; he was a movement unto himself.”
“He taught me that protest must have purpose, that faith must have feet, and that justice is not seasonal, it is daily work,” Sharpton wrote in a statement.
Jackson leaves behind his children, among them U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson and former Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.
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