The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights activist and former presidential candidate who garnered controversy over his political activism and personal misconduct, has died at age 84.
The Jackson family released a statement announcing that the Baptist minister died on Tuesday morning, being survived by his wife, six children and multiple grandchildren.
"Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” stated the Jackson family.
“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 honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”
The Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church of Stonecrest, Georgia, called Jackson "my superhero" in an emailed statement.
"While other boys my age wanted to be Michael Jordan, I wanted to be Jesse Jackson,” Bryant added. “His poise, passion and purpose was my blueprint. In 6th grade I wore a Jackson for president button every day and haven't turned back since.”
Jesse Louis Jackson was born Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina. The son of a single teenage mother, Jackson was an honor student in high school and later earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in 1964. He completed graduate work at the Chicago Theological Seminary in the 1960s and later received an honorary master’s degree from the institution.
Jackson first engaged as an activist while a student at CTS when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Chicago to launch a northern chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
While Jackson rose through the ranks of the movement, he and King did not always get along, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute at Stanford.
“Despite King’s praises of Jackson’s work, a few days before King’s assassination he criticized Jackson for following his own agenda rather than supporting the group,” explained the Institute.
“Jackson, hurt by his mentor’s disapproval, told him, ‘Everything’s going to be all right’ … King angrily replied that everything was not going to be alright and that he needed Jackson and all of the SCLC staff to work toward a common vision for America.”
The two eventually reconciled. Jackson was talking with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when the famous civil rights leader was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Like King, Jackson was ordained a Baptist minister. He left the SCLC in 1971 to found his own civil rights advocacy group, People United to Save Humanity.
Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, which merged with PUSH in the 1990s to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. He would also launch a minority economic opportunity group called the Wall Street Project.
In 1984 and 1988, Jackson launched campaigns to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. Though he failed both times, each effort received substantial support.
“Until 1984, no black person had ever launched a major campaign for President of the United States,” wrote Kimberly Anne Powell of Northern Illinois University in 1989.
“In 1984 Jesse Jackson's campaign was one of symbolic protest. In 1988 his campaign was a serious bid for the presidency, which challenged the established stereotype of presidential candidates.”
In January 2001, Jackson admitted having had an extramarital affair with a Rainbow/PUSH staffer, which resulted in him fathering a child.
"This is no time for evasions, denials or alibis," stated Jackson at the time, as reported by ABC News. "I fully accept responsibility and I am truly sorry for my actions."
Jackson went on to state that he would provide "emotional and financial" support to the child.
Another family scandal hit in 2013 when his son, former member of Congress Jesse Louis Jackson Jr., pled guilty to conspiring to defraud his reelection campaigns of approximately $750,000, which he used to pay for personal expenses, like jewelry, fur capes, celebrity memorabilia, and a home renovation project. He received a 30-month sentence.
In November 2017, Jackson announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, having seen early symptoms of the neurological illness a couple of years earlier.
“After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinson’s disease, a disease that bested my father,” Jackson said at the time, as quoted by CNN, adding that the “recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful.”
In April, Jackson was reportedly diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a neurological disorder related to Parkinson’s that also hinders mobility and speech.
Because of his health issues, Jackson reduced his public appearances, though he was a delegate at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, representing Illinois, where he was honored by attendees.
The then-82-year-old Jackson, who came on stage in a wheelchair, did not address the 2024 DNC. Rather, he gave two thumbs up to the cheering crowd.
