Jesse Jackson dead at 84
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson Sr yells and gestures during a campaign speech, 1988.
Afro Newspaper/Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights icon, Baptist minister and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, died Tuesday at age 84.
The Jackson family confirmed his passing in a statement on Tuesday morning.
The civil rights leader spent decades in the public eye fighting to end racial and class divisions in America.
A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson fought on the front lines of the battle against Jim Crow segregation laws as a college student. He stood out for his rousing speeches, radical ideas and passion for racial equality. Jackson would become a key figure in the civil rights movement that pressed for broader economic opportunities for Black people through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC, and more recently, his organization the Rainbow PUSH coalition.
Mahalia Jackson, left, sings “We Shall Overcome” with civil rights leaders the Rev. Martin Luther King, third left, Jesse Jackson, second from right, and Albert Raby, right, on Aug. 4, 1966.
Ray Foster | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Jackson eventually transitioned into politics. In 1984 and 1988, he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, winning multiple primaries and surpassing expectations each time. He based his campaigns on expanded equality for various racial minority groups, the working class and women.
Later, Jackson served as U.S. special envoy to Africa in the 1990s. He also acted as “shadow senator” for Washington, D.C., a role in which he lobbied for the district’s statehood.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Jackson also negotiated the release of dozens of international hostages and prisoners, and became a vocal supporter of voting and LGBTQ rights.
Participants carry a banner during the Gay Rights March April 25, 1993 in Washington, DC. Over 500,000 gays, lesbians and bisexual activists and their friends and families participated in the largest gathering of gay men and lesbians in history organized to end discrimination.
Porter Gifford | Hulton Archive | Getty Images
He was no stranger to controversy. During the 1984 presidential primary, he referred to Jews with the slur “Hymies” and called New York “Hymietown” in remarks he at first denied and later apologized for. “Saturday Night Live” lampooned the incident in a sketch featuring Eddie Murphy playing Jackson. And, in a testament to his stature in American political and popular culture, Jackson himself hosted “SNL” later that year.
In 2001, he admitted to having an extramarital affair that led to the birth of a daughter.
Jackson had been fighting Parkinson’s disease since November 2017. In August 2021, he and his wife were hospitalized with Covid-19 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He was discharged in September after receiving successful treatment for the virus and Parkinson’s disease.
While Jackson had largely been off of the…
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