The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a towering figure in the American civil rights movement who evolved from a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. into a two-time presidential candidate and a global mediator, has died at the age of 84. His family announced his passing on Tuesday, praising “his unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love.”
Jackson was a key lieutenant in King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960s and was present in Memphis when King was assassinated in 1968.
He later founded Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition, organizations dedicated to social justice and economic empowerment that merged in 1996.
‘It takes two wings to fly’
Jackson’s historic presidential bids in 1984 and 1988 shattered racial barriers and laid the groundwork for Barack Obama’s historic victory two decades later.
His stirring address to the 1988 Democratic National Convention, in which he urged the party to find “common ground” and declared “it takes two wings to fly,” remains a landmark of American political oratory.
A legacy of activism and controversy
Beyond politics, Jackson acted as an international envoy, negotiating the release of prisoners in Syria and Iraq and advocating for the end of apartheid in South Africa.
His later years were marked by a battle with Parkinson’s disease and moments of personal controversy, but he remained a steadfast voice for the “desperate and the disinherited” until the end.