Reverend Jesse Jackson, a Civil Rights Legend, Has Passed Away

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and ran twice for the Democratic nomination for the United States presidency, died on February 17, 2026. The 84-year-old passed away at home surrounded by loved ones. A cause of death has not been disclosed. However, Reverend Jackson believed he had Parkinson’s disease; he had been misdiagnosed. He later learned he had progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disease that affects walking, balance, eye movements, and swallowing.

His family confirmed via an announcement, which read in part:

“Our father was a servant leader—not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” said the Jackson family. We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became a part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”

A Son of the South

He was born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 8, 1941, to Helen Burns, 16, and Noah Louis Robinson, a married man who lived next door. His mother married Charles Jackson, and he was eventually adopted. He didn’t live with any of his parents and was reared by his grandmother in a shotgun shack, according to the New York Times.

Jackson earned a football scholarship to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, but only stayed a year because of the racism he had to endure. He transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T), a historically Black institution in Greensboro, a year after the historic Woolworth’s lunch counter protest in 1960. He was a leader in his fraternity and the student body president. While there, he met and married a fellow student, Jacqueline Lavania Brown.

Becoming a Civil Rights Leader and a Minister

While still a student at NC A&T, Jackson led a protest of hundreds of students through downtown Greensboro. He was arrested the following day, and many believe that was the beginning of his activism. After graduating, he shifted his interest from law to ministry and enrolled at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

But witnessing the beating of protesters in Selma, Alabama, on television in March 1965, spurred him into action. He enlisted students and faculty to join in on a trip to Alabama. There, he met Dr. King and offered to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

By age 24, he was the youngest member of the SCLC and was leading the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket. “The program favored negotiation with business leaders, but when employers refused or backed out of hiring agreements, hundreds of participating ministers headed for their pulpits, according to a Chicago Public Library blog on the program. This led to several “Don’t Buy” (short for “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work”) picketing campaigns outside of supermarkets.” Reverend Jackson withdrew from seminary six months before completing his degree to devote his efforts to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement (he was later ordained). Reverend Jackson was among those present at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis when Dr. King was assassinated in April 1968.

He Ran for President Twice

In the 1970s, Reverend Jackson became more widely known as a gifted orator. With his signature call-and-response, “I am Somebody!” He formed the PUSH Coalition, focused on improving economic conditions in the Black community. In 1984, after his first unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, he created the National Rainbow Coalition to fight for equal rights for all. He used his mission as a rallying cry for his speech at the 1988 Democratic convention, where he came in second. His “Keep Hope Alive”  speech called for social justice and unity. The two organizations merged in 1996 to become the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Jackson Continued to Fight for Civil Rights into His Later Years

Reverend Jackson’s life and career weren’t without controversy, including the revelation that he fathered a child with one of his staffers. However, he continued to fight for equality and justice well into his later years, even after he announced his health diagnosis of Parkinson’s in November 2017. He was arrested four years later during protests in our nation’s capital against voting restrictions that Republicans pushed. He officially retired from his role at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023.

A Larger-Than-Life Legacy

Reverend Jackson has left an indelible mark on this nation that we will not forget. In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; their children, Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline; his daughter, Ashley Jackson; and his grandchildren. Our condolences go out to his family.