Civil right icon Jesse Jackson dies at 84. Here are 11 things to remember about him

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the longtime United States civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and two-time presidential candidate, has died at the age of 84, his family announced on Tuesday. Although the exact cause of death was not immediately disclosed, the family said Jackson “died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones,” according to a report byNBC. He had been hospitalised in November and had lived for more than a decade with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disorder that affects mobility and swallowing and can lead to severe complications, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

“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 Jackson family said in a statement. They added that his lifelong commitment to justice, equality and love had uplifted millions and urged the world to honour his legacy by continuing the fight for the values he championed.

Jackson publicly revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017 and had been receiving outpatient treatment at Northwestern Medicine for at least two years prior to announcing it. The family said public observances would be held in Chicago, and additional details on celebration of life events would be announced by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Jackson was born in Greenville and rose to prominence during the U.S.

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civil rights era, participating in demonstrations alongside Martin Luther King Jr.. His activism extended into politics, where he twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988. In the 1984 race, he won more than 18 percent of the primary vote and several primaries and caucuses.“Merely by being black and forcing other candidates to consider his very real potential to garner black votes, which they need, Jackson has had an impact,” wrote the New York Times in 1984.In 1988, he improved his performance, winning 11 primaries and caucuses.

Jackson began his career as an organiser with the Congress of Racial Equality, participating in sit-ins and marches. He studied at North Carolina A&T State University, graduating with a sociology degree. While pursuing divinity studies at Chicago Theological Seminary, he rallied student support for King and took part in the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march.

Shortly thereafter, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to work alongside King full time. Jackson won praise from King for his leadership of SCLC’s economic empowerment programme, Operation Breadbasket — “we knew he was going to do a good job, but he’s done better than a good job,” King said.

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