Reverend Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, has died at the age of eighty‑four (84).
A Baptist minister and nationally recognized activist, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing civil rights, economic justice, and political empowerment. He was a two‑time candidate for President of the United States, running in 1984 and 1988.
In 1996, Reverend Jackson merged People United to Serve Humanity (PUSH), founded in 1971, with the Rainbow Coalition, founded in 1984, to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. The organization was established to address economic and social injustices faced by African American communities.
Reverend Jackson was the father of six children, including U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson and former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.
In 2017, the civil rights activist publicly announced that he was battling progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neuromuscular disease similar to Parkinson’s disease. He was hospitalized in November 2025 as complications from the illness progressed
