Reverend Jesse Jackson dies at 84

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights pioneer and Baptist minister who twice ran for president of the United States, has died, according to his family.

Jesse’s family released a statement Tuesday morning, celebrating the icon… “Our father was a leader serving not only our family, but also the oppressed, the voiceless and the disenfranchised around the world.”

They continued… “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became 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 ​​by which he lived.”

Jackson died peacefully with his loved ones by his side…the official cause of his death has not yet been released.

In November, Jesse was hospitalized after living for more than a decade with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), according to his Rainbow PUSH coalition. The disease affects patients’ ability to walk and swallow and leads to dangerous complications. Jesse was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017.

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson quickly rose to prominence as an activist during the civil rights era. He grew close to Dr. Martin Luther King and marched alongside him in protests…Jesse’s advocacy for blacks and the poor spanned several decades.

Jackson also entered national politics, running for president in 1984 and 1988, but lost both times.

During his 1984 campaign for the Democratic nomination, Jesse called New York City “Hymietown”, using the term “Hymie” to refer to New York’s large Jewish population. Republican candidate Ronald Reagan won the 1984 election by a landslide.

That same year, Jackson launched his National Rainbow Coalition, which lambasted Reagan’s policies and defended social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action. Jesse’s PUSH organization and the National Rainbow Coalition merged in 1996, continuing his never-ending fight for African Americans and the poor.

In 1999, Jackson helped negotiate the release of three American service members detained in Yugoslavia. Then-President Bill Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his help in negotiating the deal.

Jesse has had similar successes in striking deals with foreign adversaries to bring home our military captives in Syria, Cuba, Iraq and the Gambia. He was also elected in 1991 to serve as a “shadow senator” to lobby for statehood in Washington, D.C., serving one term in that position.

Jackson was 84 years old.

RIP