Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Dies at 84
Reverend Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader, has died at the age of 84. Jackson was a pivotal figure in American politics and social justice for decades, known for his advocacy for equality and his two presidential campaigns in the 1980s.
- A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson was appointed in 1966 to head the Chicago branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket. He was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when King was assassinated in 1968. - In 1971, Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), which focused on economic empowerment for Black communities by pressuring corporations to hire more Black workers and work with Black-owned businesses. - During his 1984 presidential campaign, he formed the National Rainbow Coalition, a political organization aimed at uniting a diverse group of voters including African Americans, Hispanics, Arab-Americans, Asian Americans, and white progressives. The two organizations merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. - Jackson's 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns ran on liberal platforms that included proposals for universal healthcare, cuts to the defense budget, and increased federal funding for education. In 1988, he more than doubled his previous primary results, finishing as the runner-up for the Democratic nomination. - He played a significant role in international diplomacy, often without government approval, by negotiating the release of U.S. citizens held abroad. This included securing the release of a captured Navy pilot from Syria in 1984, 48 prisoners from Cuba the same year, and U.S. soldiers held hostage in Yugoslavia in 1999. - In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, for his work. - Jackson announced in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a condition his father also had. He continued to participate in civil rights activism, including being arrested during a voting rights protest in 2021.
