Rev. Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Giant, Dies at 84
- John Eriomala
- 27 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose legacy extended from marching with MLK to running for President twice and shaping Black American history, dies at 84.
The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Sr., one of the most significant civil rights leaders in American history, has died at 84. According to a statement from his family, Jackson passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017 and had been battling Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disorder, with a recent hospitalisation in Chicago in November 2025.
"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. 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," the statement reads. It further added that, "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." Per the statement, Public observances will be held in Chicago, with final arrangements to be released by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, children: Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, Jacqueline, and Ashley Jackson; and grandchildren.
Born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, Rev Jesse Jackson's activism began early on. As a college student, he was part of the Greenville Eight, a group arrested for staging a sit-in at a whites-only library in 1960. He marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at Selma in 1965, joined King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was present on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968, when King was assassinated, a moment that would define the rest of Jackson's mission.
The Reverend went on to found Operation PUSH and later the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which became one of America's foremost civil rights organisations. In 1983, he organised the voter registration drive widely credited with propelling Harold Washington to become Chicago's first Black mayor. The following year, Jackson became only the second Black American to seek a major party's presidential nomination, after Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972, running again in 1988 and winning major primaries, making him the most successful Black presidential candidate in U.S. history until Barack Obama's election in 2008. In 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the country.
Jackson's relationship with film and television was both personal and profound. From 1992 to 2000, he hosted Both Sides with Jesse Jackson, a weekly political discussion show on CNN that introduced his oratory to a new generation of television viewers. His presence on screen showed how Black leadership could command mainstream American media long before it was the norm.
His story has proven to be fertile ground for Black filmmakers. Peabody Award-winning director Shola Lynch, celebrated for her landmark documentary Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed, which chronicled Shirley Chisholm's presidential campaign that directly preceded Jackson's, was announced in 2022 as the director of a major theatrical documentary and limited TV series on his life. Co-executive produced by his son Yusef D. Jackson and backed by The Yucaipa Companies, the project promised exclusive access to the reverend and his family, along with 60 years of previously unseen archival footage. As Lynch put it at the time: "When others have been killed, moved on, or retired, Jackson has been tireless, even relentless." With his passing, that documentary now carries the weight of the final act of self-testimony from a man who spent his life insisting that Black voices be heard and taken seriously.