Rev. Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84

The Rev. Jesse Jackson — Baptist minister, civil rights organizer, and twice a candidate for the presidency of the United States — died peacefully on Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family confirmed in a statement. No cause of death was given, though Jackson had been living with Parkinson's disease since at least 2017 and was hospitalized in November 2025 after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative neurological condition Jesse Jackson Dies: Civil Rights Activist Was 84deadline.com·SecondaryReverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist and preacher who fought tirelessly for decades, has died aged 84. A statement from his family said Jackson “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” A cause of death has not been given. Jackson was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity,” said the statement..

"Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world," the Jackson family said Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon, dies aged 84theguardian.com·SecondaryA fixture in civil rights and Democratic politics since the 1960s, Jackson was once close to Martin Luther King Jr The Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights campaigner who was prominent for more than 50 years and who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, has died. He was 84. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement.. His family described his "unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights" as having "helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity" Jesse Jackson Dies: Civil Rights Activist Was 84deadline.com·SecondaryReverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist and preacher who fought tirelessly for decades, has died aged 84. A statement from his family said Jackson “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” A cause of death has not been given. Jackson was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity,” said the statement..

Jackson's death closes a chapter in the American civil rights story that began in the Jim Crow South of the 1940s. Born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, to a 16-year-old unmarried mother, Jackson grew up amid the rigid segregation that defined the region. He took his stepfather Charles Jackson's surname as a teenager and excelled as both a student and football player, earning a scholarship to the University of Illinois before transferring to the historically Black North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

It was during his college years that Jackson found the intersection of faith, politics, and protest that would define his life. He participated in sit-ins to desegregate Greensboro establishments and was elected student body president. "My leadership skills came from the athletic arena," Jackson told the Washington Post in 1984. "In many ways, they were developed from playing quarterback. Assessing defenses; motivating your own team" Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

After graduating with a sociology degree in 1964, Jackson enrolled at the Chicago Theological Seminary but soon left to join Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King, who had followed Jackson's student activism from afar, tasked him with establishing the SCLC's Chicago office and heading Operation Breadbasket, the organization's economic justice arm. By 1967, Jackson was the program's national director, organizing boycotts against businesses that refused to hire Black employees Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

On April 4, 1968, Jackson was present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when King was assassinated — a moment that haunted him for decades. "Every time I think about it, it's like pulling a scab off a sore," Jackson told the Guardian in 2018. "A man of love is killed by hate; a man of peace should be killed by violence; a man who cared is killed by the careless" US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies at 84dw.com·SecondaryUS civil rights leader Jesse Jackson died at the age of 84, US media reported on Tuesday, citing his family. Jackson was a Baptist minister who rose to prominence as an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and later became a major political figure, including through two campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination. More to come. Please check back for updates..

The assassination fractured the SCLC leadership. After clashing with King's successor Ralph Abernathy over the handling of a Chicago Black Expo, Jackson was suspended. His entire Breadbasket staff resigned in solidarity, and at the end of 1971, Jackson founded People United to Save Humanity, known as Operation PUSH — an organization focused on creating economic opportunity through political action Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

Jackson's profile rose dramatically in the early 1980s through personal diplomacy. In 1983, he traveled to Syria and successfully negotiated the release of captured American pilot Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, earning a White House invitation from President Ronald Reagan. The following year, he secured the release of 22 American soldiers held in Cuba through a direct appeal to Fidel Castro Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

These diplomatic coups propelled Jackson into presidential politics. He ran for the Democratic nomination in 1984, becoming only the second Black candidate to mount a nationwide campaign after Shirley Chisholm. His candidacy gave birth to the Rainbow Coalition, a multiracial political movement advocating social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action. At the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, Jackson delivered a speech that many consider among the great American political addresses: "This is not a perfect party. We're not a perfect people. Yet, we are called to a perfect mission" Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

Jackson ran again in 1988, performing even more strongly but losing the nomination to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Together, the two campaigns registered millions of new voters, particularly in Black communities, reshaping the Democratic electorate in ways that would prove consequential for decades Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

Conservative critics viewed Jackson with skepticism throughout his career — questioning whether his brand of coalition politics and race-conscious advocacy genuinely advanced Black economic progress or primarily advanced Jackson's own prominence. His meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1979 and an off-the-record remark referring to New York City as "Hymietown" during his 1984 campaign drew sharp condemnation from Jewish organizations and broader questions about his judgment Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity.. His critics argued that his confrontational style and penchant for inserting himself into high-profile crises sometimes generated more heat than light.

Supporters, however, pointed to concrete results: Operation PUSH's corporate accountability campaigns opened doors for Black executives at major firms, and his voter registration drives fundamentally altered the political landscape. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his decades of service US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies at 84dw.com·SecondaryUS civil rights leader Jesse Jackson died at the age of 84, US media reported on Tuesday, citing his family. Jackson was a Baptist minister who rose to prominence as an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and later became a major political figure, including through two campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination. More to come. Please check back for updates..

Jackson's personal life was not without controversy. In the early 2000s, he acknowledged fathering a daughter, Ashley, during an extramarital affair with Karin Stanford, a political scientist. The revelation briefly dimmed his public standing but did not derail his continued activism Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Activist and Two-Time Presidential Candidate, Dies at 84variety.com·SecondaryRev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for president of the United States, died on Tuesday. He was 84. In a statement via BBC News, Jackson’s family said he “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” The statement continued: “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity..

In his later years, Jackson remained a visible figure at protests and public events even as Parkinson's disease increasingly limited his mobility. He was seen at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a poignant appearance that underscored his enduring connection to the party he had sought to lead US civil rights activist and African American figure Jesse Jackson dies aged 84france24.com·SecondaryAdvertising US civil rights activist and African American figure Jesse Jackson dies aged 84 Issued on: 17/02/2026 - 10:54 1 min Reading time Share Advertising.

Jackson is survived by his wife Jacqueline, whom he married in 1962; their children Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline Jr.; his daughter Ashley; and his grandchildren Jesse Jackson Dies: Civil Rights Activist Was 84deadline.com·SecondaryReverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist and preacher who fought tirelessly for decades, has died aged 84. A statement from his family said Jackson “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” A cause of death has not been given. Jackson was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity,” said the statement..

His death arrives at a moment when questions about racial justice, voting rights, and economic inequality remain as contested as ever in American politics. Whether one views Jackson as a prophet or a provocateur — and reasonable people have long disagreed — his imprint on the civil rights movement and the Democratic Party is beyond serious dispute. The coalition politics he championed in the 1980s anticipated the multiracial Democratic base that would eventually elect Barack Obama, and his insistence that economic justice belonged at the center of the civil rights agenda remains a live debate within progressive circles and beyond.