Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader who worked closely with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and continued his work after his assassination, died Tuesday at his Chicago home surrounded by family. He was 84.
Jackson’s daughter Sanita confirmed his death. He had battled Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare neurodegenerative disorder, for over a decade. “Our father was a servant leader, not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement.
Jackson helped lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization founded in 1957 to advance racial equality. He was with King in Memphis when King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988, broadening political participation among minority and working-class voters.
Despite declining health, he appeared in 2024 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and at a City Council meeting supporting a ceasefire resolution in the Israel-Hamas war. Rev. Al Sharpton called his mentor “a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world.”
President Donald Trump called Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and street smarts” and cited his role in criminal justice reform and support for historically Black colleges and universities.
Jackson is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, and five children including former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.
