By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated February 17, 2026 /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse L. Jackson died on Tuesday at the age of 84 years old at home in Chicago, IL, with family by his side. This occurred only three months after Jackson was hospitalized last November during his fight against progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological brain disease that causes similar symptoms to Parkinson’s disease, which he had been misdiagnosed with in 2017.
The Jackson family released a statement: “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,” the statement continued, per the AP. “His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.” Per the family, there will be public observances in Chicago and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition will announce any other celebrations of the civil rights legend’s life.
Many have taken to social media in tribute, including former President Joe Biden on X, writing, “Reverend Jackson believed in his bones the promise of America: that we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. While we’ve never fully lived up to that promise, he dedicated his life to ensuring we never fully walked away from it either.”
Indeed, Jackson essentially came out of the womb fighting against prejudice. Born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, S.C., on October 8, 1941 to his 16-year-old mother, Helen Burns, and the 33-year-old married former boxer who lived next door, two years later in 1943, his mother married Charles Jackson. He would officially adopt Jesse 14 years later. But after the couple had their own son, they sent Jackson to live with his maternal grandmother. “Rejected by his father and not fully embraced by his stepfather, he was taunted by other children, all while learning the racial caste system of the segregated South,” The New York Times reported.
But Jackson persisted and excelled in both academics, sports, and other extracurricular activities, including being president of his class. Jackson earned a football scholarship to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a predominantly white college, but soon after transferred to the HBCU, North Carolina A&T during his sophomore year. In Greensboro, Jackson began advocating for civil rights and was one of seven arrested in 1960 for protesting at a whites-only public library, which did ultimately become desegregated as a result of their demonstration.
While in college, Jackson became a leader in the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and president of the student body. He soon fell in love with Jacqueline “Jackie” Lavinia Brown. In 1962, on New Year’s Eve, they got married and soon after had their first child, a daughter named Santita. They would go on to have four more children together.
Jackson wrestled with deciding between the ministry and being a lawyer, but the pulpit won out, and in 1964, after graduating, Jackson matriculated to the Chicago Theological Seminary. It was around this time that Jackson met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and became one of his protégées. At 24 years old, he became the youngest staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was charged with setting up Chicago’s chapter of Operation Breadbasket, a boycott campaign aiming to pressure white businesses to use Black workers’ goods and services.
UNITED STATES – AUGUST 19: Rev. Jesse Jackson appears on stage with his son Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., center background, Rev. Al Sharpton, third from left, and others, at the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Monday, August 19, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
King praised Jackson’s work stating, “We knew he was going to do a good job, but he’s done better than a good job.” After King’s assassination, Jackson continued to fight for civil rights, resigning from SCLC after being suspended amidst leadership clashes and founding People United to Save Humanity (PUSH) in 1971. PUSH aimed to advance economic opportunity within Black communities in the U.S. and would eventually enter the political fray “with direct action campaigns and social areas through a weekly radio show and awards for Black people,” NBC News reported.
In 1984, Jackson embarked upon the first of two presidential bids and also launched the National Rainbow Coalition. In 1996, PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition merged to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. With his 1984 campaign, Jackson became the second Black candidate after Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 run to seek the presidency of the United States. That same year, he gained international fame for playing a prominent role in helping to secure Navy lieutenant Robert O. Goodman Jr.’s release from Lebanon, where he was imprisoned.
Jackson became such a powerful voice that he was able to challenge the very dialect used to refer to Black people in this country. His advocacy led to the promotion of utilizing “African American” in place of “Black” or “Negro” during the late 1980s.
In 1988, after losing out to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis for the presidential nomination, Jackson boldly proclaimed, “Call you outcast, low down, you can’t make it, you’re nothing, you’re from nobody, subclass, underclass. When you see Jesse Jackson, when my name goes in nomination, your name goes in nomination. I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. And it wasn’t born in you, and you can make it,” Jackson continued, ending with “Keep hope alive!” repeating the phrase four times. Some have heralded this speech as a precursor to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan, “Hope and Change.”
In 1991, Jackson became one of the capital city’s shadow senators, winning his first election, to lobby for D.C. statehood. Jackson continued his activism and helped in securing “the release of several detained and captured Americans from around the world. In 1999, he negotiated the release of three U.S. soldiers being held in Yugoslavia. President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for those efforts a year later,” per NBC News.
In addition to the accolades, Jackson’s life was also plagued by controversy. In 2001, Jackson was exposed as being the father of Ashley Jackson, who was born in 1999, by a woman who worked for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. In addition, he was accused of making antisemitic remarks, using offensive terms to refer to New York City’s Jewish population during his 1984 campaign.
Nevertheless, even after receiving his medical diagnosis, Jackson continued to fight for what he believed in. He travelled to Minneapolis after the George Floyd shooting, entreating that criminal charges be levied against the police officers. He continued to support an increase in the minimum wage and the removal of troops from Afghanistan.
Amongst the controversies and many triumphs, it is undisputed that Jackson has had a lasting impact on American politics. In 2024, when former Vice President Kamala Harris received the presidential nomination, Jackson made a return to the political realm with an appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As Washington state Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal eloquently stated that night, “For every elected official we will see on that stage – we are here because you laid therel=”tag”>jesse jackson Obituary
The post From The Pulpit To The Streets: Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Enduring Legacy Of Hope, Power, And Justice appeared first on Essence.
Author: Victoria Uwumarogie
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