U.S. civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. Jackson died peacefully in his home in Chicago, where he was surrounded by his family, leaving a unforgettable legacy: a preacher whose voice moved millions, a negotiator who bargained for jobs and opportunity, and a fighter who insisted that dignity and policy must move together. From working alongside Martin Luther King Jr to running for president twice advocating for universal healthcare and against war only to meet resistance from a “Democratic” establishment whose only goal was to preserve the failed status quo.
Jesse Jackson is remembered as an unapologetic tireless warrior against all systems of oppression. A voice for justice, equality, and hope for generations, he dedicated his life to uplifting the overlooked and bringing people together. who devoted his life to civil rights, economic empowerment, and political change , standing on the front lines from the era of Dr. King to modern global diplomacy.
From Selma to presidential runs, from Operation Breadbasket to Rainbow PUSH, his voice carried hope for the oppressed and accountability for power, and using his voice firmly against apartheid abroad and injustice at home, while he never shied away from naming Palestinian rights as part of a broader, global human rights struggle.
A servant leader, a bridge builder, and a relentless advocate for equality. His work helped shape generations of activism and inspired countless people to believe in the power of speaking up and standing together. His legacy isn’t just history, it’s instruction. He leaves a blueprint for courage. May we honor him not only in memory, but in movement.
Jesse Louis Jackson was born Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of high school student Helen Burns and Noah Louis Robinson, a married man who lived next door. Jackson was later adopted by Charles Henry Jackson, who married his mother.
Jackson was a star quarterback on the football team at Sterling High School in Greenville, and he accepted a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. But after reportedly being told that Black people couldn't play quarterback, he transferred to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, where he became the first-string quarterback, an honor student in sociology and economics, and student body president.
Arriving on the historically Black campus in 1960 just months after students there launched sit-ins at a whites-only lunch counter, Jackson immersed himself in the blossoming Civil Rights Movement.
By 1965, he joined the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King dispatched him to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.
Jackson called his time with King "a phenomenal four years of work."
Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was slain. Jackson's account of the assassination was that King died in his arms. With his flair for the dramatic, Jackson wore a turtleneck he said was soaked with King's blood for two days, including at a King memorial service held by the Chicago City Council, where he said: "I come here with a heavy heart because on my chest is the stain of blood from Dr. King's head." In 1971, Jackson broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to form Operation PUSH, originally named People United to Save Humanity. The organization based on Chicago's South Side declared a sweeping mission, from diversifying workforces to registering voters in communities of color nationwide.
Using lawsuits and threats of boycotts, Jackson pressured top corporations to spend millions and publicly commit to hiring more diverse employees.
The constant campaigns often left his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, the college sweetheart he married in 1963, taking the lead in raising their five children: Santita Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson Jr., and two future members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Luther Jackson and Jesse L. Jackson Jr., who resigned in 2012 but is seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms. The elder Jackson, who was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968 and earned his master's of divinity degree in 2000, also acknowledged fathering a child, Ashley Jackson, with one of his employees at Rainbow/PUSH, Karen L. Stanford. He said he understood what it means to be born out of wedlock and supported her emotionally and financially.
Despite once telling a Black audience he would not run for president "because white people are incapable of appreciating me," Jackson ran twice and did better than any Black politician had before President Barack Obama, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988, four years after his first failed attempt. His successes left supporters chanting another Jackson slogan, "Keep hope alive."
Despite profound health challenges in his final years, including the disorder that affected his ability to move and speak, Jackson continued protesting against racial injustice into the era of Black Lives Matter. In 2024, he appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and at a City Council meeting to show support for a resolution backing a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
"Even if we win," he told marchers in Minneapolis before the officer whose knee kept George Floyd from breathing was convicted of murder, "it's relief, not victory. They're still killing our people. Stop the violence, save the children. Keep hope alive."
Jackson's voice, infused with the stirring cadences and powerful insistence of the Black church, demanded attention. On the campaign trail and elsewhere, he used rhyming and slogans such as "Hope not dope" and "If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it," to deliver his messages.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but in 1972, on the steps of Sesame Street, Reverend Jesse Jackson looked into the faces of children and in a beautiful call-and-response reminded them that every child is somebody. Not a slogan. A moral vision. A reminder that dignity is not earned it is inherent.
In the spirit of Reverend Jackson, let us continue to carry the torch of justice, to push for a world where everyone, regardless of their race or background, has an equal opportunity to thrive. Rest in power, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Sesame Street - I Am Somebody
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