Renowned civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84.

While the specific cause of his death has not been disclosed, Jackson’s family shared that he passed peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by those he loved.

In a heartfelt message, the Jackson family expressed: “Our father was a guiding light not only to us but to the marginalized, the unheard, and the overlooked across the globe.

“We shared him with the world, and in doing so, the world became part of our extended family. His steadfast commitment to justice, equality, and compassion inspired countless individuals. We urge you to celebrate his legacy by continuing to champion the principles he stood for.”

Jackson leaves behind his wife, Jacqueline Brown, of over six decades, along with their six children.

Back in 2017, Jackson disclosed his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Prior to this public announcement, he had been receiving outpatient treatment for the condition at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago for a couple of years.

He was hospitalised for COVID-19 in August 2021, and again in November after he fell and hit his head while helping Howard University students protest poor living conditions on campus. 

Born in 1941 in the Jim Crow South, Jesse Jackson would go on to become one of the most influential political activists of the late twentieth century. 

He rose to prominence as an early disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. and became one of the nation’s most recognised civil rights leaders. 

Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson (pictured) has died at the age of 84

Jackson’s family said he died peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Tuesday morning

Jackson partook in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 and was present at the Memphis motel when King was assassinated in 1968.  

Jackson first met Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 when he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches. He did not go unnoticed.

‘He immediately took charge,’ recalled former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, then a top deputy to King. ‘It was almost like he came in and, while people were lining up, he wouldn’t get in line. He would start lining people up.’

In 1971, he formed Operation PUSH -People United to Save Humanity (later changed to People United to Serve Humanity). The goal was to pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism. ‘It would take him very, very far,’ wrote the New York Times. 

PUSH’s aim was to pressure politicians to improve economic opportunities for black and poor people of all races. Using boycotts (or the threat of them), on white-owned companies, PUSH would win franchises, supply contracts and jobs for many minorities. 

Jackson led successful boycotts against Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Heublein, Burger King and Seven Up which eventually translated to more minority employment.  

In 1984, Jackson established the Rainbow Coalition whose mission was to establish equal rights for African Americans, women and homosexuals and run programs for housing, social services and voter registration. The two organisations merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. 

He twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, first in 1984 and again in 1988. 

Jesse Jackson (second from right) stands next to Martin Luther King Jr, at a Chicago event in 1966

Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Cabrini-Green neighbourhood of Chicago in 1970 

Jackson resigned from his post as president of Operation PUSH in 1984 to run for president of the United States. 

He was the third African American candidate to do so on a major political party ticket, after Shirley Chisholm sought the Democratic nomination in 1972 and Frederick Douglass received a single roll call vote at the 1888 Republican National Convention. 

Jackson was immediately written off as a fringe candidate, but he took political pundits by surprise when he placed third in the primary, behind Senator Gary Hart and Vice President Walter Mondale. 

In the first race, he won more than 18% of the primary vote and a handful of primaries and caucuses. Four years later, he won 11 primaries and caucuses.  

According to a New York Times article published at the time of his second run for the White House, ‘most political analysts give him little chance of being nominated – partly because he is black, partly because of his unretrenched liberalism.’ 

The trailblazing civil rights leader captured 6.9 million votes and won the primary in 11 states. Once again. exceeding expectations by doubling his previous results, the New York Times called 1988, ‘the Year of Jackson.’ 

More to follow.