Who is Jesse Jackson?

Early Life and Formative Years

Jesse Louis Jackson was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, during a period when racial segregation was legally enforced and socially entrenched across the American South. Growing up in this environment shaped Jackson’s consciousness early on. Schools, public facilities, and daily life were segregated by race; Black Americans were relegated to second-class status despite formal citizenship rights on paper. Jackson’s experience of these injustices was not abstract – he lived them. According to biographical accounts, he once turned down a professional sports contract because the pay was significantly lower for Black athletes than for white players, a stark early lesson in racial inequality.

Jackson’s formative experiences fueled his determination to fight the structures that upheld racial oppression. He was not merely a witness to injustice; he became an active opponent. As a young man, Jackson attended the University of Illinois, where he was exposed to broader intellectual currents, including the burgeoning civil rights movement. His activism took firm root when he confronted segregation directly – including arrests for participating in demonstrations against unequal treatment at public facilities.

Partnership with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The turning point in Jackson’s early activism came when he became involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, the SCLC was at the forefront of nonviolent protest against segregation and voter suppression. Under King’s mentorship, Jackson became a skilled organizer and spokesman. He marched in pivotal events, including the historic 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery that helped secure the Voting Rights Act, and was present in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, when King was assassinated. Jackson’s proximity to King during these pivotal moments anchored him in the lineage of the civil rights movement and deeply influenced his philosophical commitment to justice through nonviolent activism.

Jackson’s alliance with King also exposed him to the complexities of grassroots organizing, coalition building, and political strategy. He learned that social change requires not just moral appeals but sustained political engagement. This lesson would shape his work for the decades to come.

Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition

After King’s assassination in 1968, Jackson continued his activism with a renewed sense of purpose. In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save/Serve Humanity), rooted in Chicago’s South Side, with an ambitious agenda: to promote economic empowerment, fair employment, and equitable access to business and loans for Black Americans. PUSH combined direct action with economic pressure — including boycotts and negotiations with corporations to diversify hiring and procurement practices. Jackson’s approach was both moral and strategic, linking civil rights with economic justice in ways that anticipated later movements.

In 1984, Jackson expanded his political vision with the creation of the National Rainbow Coalition, an effort to unite diverse constituencies — including Black voters, Latino communities, grassroots activists, labor unions, and progressive whites — into a broader alliance centered on social justice, voting rights, and participatory democracy. This coalition later merged with Operation PUSH in 1996, becoming the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a major force in American civil society. Jackson led the organization for more than five decades, making it a central node for activism, advocacy, and leadership development.

Historic Presidential Campaigns

Jackson’s political ambitions were historic. In 1984 and 1988, he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the most successful Black presidential candidate in U.S. history up to that time. His campaigns were notable not merely for their symbolic significance but for their substantive impact. He energized millions of voters, emphasizing issues such as economic inequality, voter rights, and international human rights. Jackson’s slogan “Keep Hope Alive” became an emblematic cry for those who felt marginalized by economic hardship and political exclusion.

While he did not secure the nomination, his campaigns expanded the Democratic Party’s coalition and demonstrated the political power of constituencies often overlooked by mainstream politics. Scholars and activists alike credit Jackson’s campaigns with helping to shape future electoral strategies that recognized the importance of multiracial coalitions — groundwork that would later underpin the campaigns of Black leaders such as Barack Obama and others.

National and International Advocacy

Jackson’s activism was not confined to domestic politics. He became known globally for his diplomatic and humanitarian interventions, often in situations where governments had failed their citizens or engaged in conflict. For example:

In 1984, he negotiated the release of a captured U.S. Navy pilot from Syria.
Later that same year, he helped secure the release of Americans held in Cuba.
In 1990, Jackson led efforts that freed hundreds of women and children detained in Iraq following the Gulf War.
In 1999, he negotiated the release of three Americans held in Yugoslavia.

These interventions were often undertaken without formal government backing, yet they demonstrated Jackson’s belief in moral diplomacy and the power of negotiated justice. They earned him respect from global leaders and contributed to his reputation as a statesman for human rights.

In recognition of his lifetime of engagement, President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — in 2000. This accolade acknowledged both his civil rights work and his broader commitment to human dignity.

Later Life and Health Challenges

As Jackson aged, his health increasingly became a focal point of public attention. In 2017, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition. In April 2025, it was confirmed that he was also battling progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), an even rarer neurodegenerative disorder that affected movement, balance, and speech.

In November 2025, Jackson was hospitalized in Chicago due to complications related to PSP, underscoring the toll that decades of public service and personal resilience had taken on his body. Reports from late 2025 described him as stable and in the care of family members, including his sons, among them U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson and former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

Despite his health challenges, Jackson remained a moral presence and occasional public figure. He appeared at the 2024 Democratic National Convention and spoke out on contemporary issues such as racial justice and world peace, including calls for ceasefires in conflicts like the Israel–Hamas war, showing that his voice remained engaged with ongoing struggles despite physical limitations.

Final Years and Passing

On February 17, 2026, Jesse Jackson died peacefully at his home in Chicago, surrounded by family. He was 84. News of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from political leaders across the spectrum and around the world, reflecting the breadth of his influence. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama remembered him as a “true giant” whose work laid foundational pathways for future civil rights progress. President Donald Trump also offered rare praise, calling Jackson a “good man” with grit and a love for people. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted Jackson’s contribution to the global anti-apartheid movement.

The NAACP honored Jackson as a “son of the movement,” affirming that his lifelong work was deeply woven into the broader history of American struggle for equality.