Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson was one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He fought alongside Martin Luther King Jr, and was there when he was assassinated. On February 17th, Jesse Jackson passed away. His reason for death is unknown, but his family said he died “peacefully”.
“A man must be willing to die for justice. Death is an inescapable reality, and men die daily, but good deeds live forever,” Jackson said.
Jackson was born on October 8th, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina. Jackson would have to go to a segregated school 5 miles away from his home for education. Jackson’s first glimpse at activism was when he led a group called the “Greensville Eight” to a “read-in” at the city’s segregated library. Jackson and the group were arrested for disorderly conduct.
“If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds,” Jackson said.
In 1965, Jackson went to Selma, Alabama, to march with Martin Luther King Jr. There, King made Jackson the leader of Operation Breakbasket, a part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On April 4th, 1968, Jackson was in Memphis, Tennessee. That night, he was on the balcony with King and then witnessed his assassination. That night, he realized he couldn’t let the movement die with King, that he would have to lead the charge. In 1971, Jackson left Operation Breadbasket to create his own operation called Push (People United to Save Humanity), which was later changed to People United to Serve Humanity. The organization led many successful boycotts that changed a lot of the company’s policies. In 1984, he founded the National Rainbow Coalition, which sought equal rights for African Americans, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. In 1996, he merged both organizations into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it,” Jackson said.
After running for president twice, he continued to be an influential spokesperson in many events. But in 2017, it was revealed that Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This disabled his ability to walk and talk. Then in 2021, he was hospitalized for having COVID-19. In 2025, he was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative condition. Finally, at the age of 84, he passed away in his home in Chicago peacefully on February 17th.
