The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. at an encampment called “Resurrection City” at the end of the Poor People’s March on the National Mall in Washington DC in May 1968. (Photo by Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Tributes poured in across the country for revered civil rights leader Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., who died Tuesday morning at age 84.
According to his family, the two-time Democratic presidential candidate and Greenville, South Carolina native died peacefully surrounded by his relatives.
Jackson, who was dynamic in the civil rights movement as a student, worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a newborn adult before King was assassinated in 1968.
As the leader of his own political movement, Jackson became known for his populist message, charismatic outreach, and organizational skills, which strengthened the role and influence of black political leaders and helped shape the state-of-the-art Democratic Party.
“Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but also to the oppressed, voiceless and overlooked around the world,” Jackson’s family said in a statement opinion.
“We shared him with the world, and in return the world became part of our extended family,” his family added. “His unwavering belief in justice, equality and love encouraged millions of people, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values by which he lived.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, ordered In honor of Jackson, flags will be raised in the half-open hall on Tuesday in the state where he lived and worked for many years.
No cause of death was given in the family statement. Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. His diagnosis was updated last year to progressive supranuclear palsy, according to a November report opinion from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which Jackson founded.
Tributes from Obama, Trump and Biden
Former President Barack Obama, the first black president, and his wife Michelle Obama said Jackson’s presidential bid “laid the foundation for Barack Obama’s successful 2008 campaign.” And Chicago native Michelle Obama got her “first glimpse of political organizing” at the Jacksons’ kitchen table, they said.
“From organizing boycotts and sit-ins to registering millions of voters to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he tirelessly believed that we are all children of God and deserving of dignity and respect,” they wrote. “Reverend Jackson also opened opportunities for generations of African Americans and inspired countless others, including us.”
President Donald Trump paid tribute to Jackson, calling him “a force of nature like no other before him” and a “good man with a lot of personality, courage and ‘street smarts.'” social media Post Tuesday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the highest-ranking black member of Congress, praised Jackson in a letter as a “legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights advocate and trailblazer extraordinaire.” social media Post.
“As he worked in the community’s vineyards for decades, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the fight for freedom and justice for all,” the New York Democrat said.
Jeffries expressed gratitude for Jackson’s “incredible service” to the country and his “great sacrifice as a champion of the people.”
Former President Joe Biden called Jackson “a man of God and the people. Determined and tenacious. Not afraid of the work of redeeming the soul of our nation.”
South Carolina’s Heritage
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and longtime friend of Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday that the civil rights leader lived a life “that defied all odds.”
“Reverend Jackson showed us that when we all work together, we can bend the arc of the moral universe and change history,” Clyburn said, while noting Jackson’s influence on “the nation, Black Americans and movements promoting civic participation around the world.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and the party’s highest-ranking Black elected official, praised Jackson’s legacy as a leader and role model.
“I don’t have to agree with anyone politically to deeply respect the role of South Carolina native Jesse Jackson in amplifying Black voices and inspiring young people to believe their voices matter,” Scott wrote on social media. “Those who empower people to become greater always leave a lasting mark. Rest in peace.”
Jackson’s legacy will live on in the next generation, South Carolina state Sen. Deon Tedder said during a news conference Tuesday.
“The future generation is taking up this torch, they are taking up this mantle,” said Tedder, a Democrat, pointing to students at the state’s historically black colleges and universities. “The baton has been passed, and what you see now is the future.”
South Carolina state Rep. Hamilton Grant recalled seeing Jackson on July 9, 2015, at the signing ceremony of the law that completely removed the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds. The flag was removed the next day, 15 years after it fell from the Statehouse dome in a compromise that Jackson rejected.
“For him to be from South Carolina, it meant the world to me to see that moment and to be in close proximity to him,” Grant told the South Carolina Daily Gazette. He said Jackson paved the way for black leaders like him and helped him instill pride in his identity.
The South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate held moments of silence in Jackson’s honor on Tuesday.
“There are so many little boys and girls in South Carolina who can now look in the mirror and say, ‘I am someone!’ because of this native son,” said state Sen. Karl Allen, a Democrat.
Shaping democratic politics
Jackson leaves behind a decades-long legacy of political and social justice work.
He founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalitiona national social justice organization whose name recalled Jackson’s multiracial voter base and the theme of his speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. This organization was formed through the merger of Operation PUSH, which Jackson founded in 1971, and the Rainbow Coalition.
In his bid for the presidency in 1988, Jackson said based his campaign on Iowa before that state’s presidential election and made the official announcement of his candidacy on October 10, 1987 at a farm in Greenfield.
He placed fourth in the primary, but briefly became the front-runner for the Democratic nomination by winning over a coalition of black and Latino voters and white liberals, although he ultimately finished second in delegates to Michael Dukakis.
Similar blocs led Obama to victory two decades later and continue to form the base of national Democrats.
Two of Jackson’s sons, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Jonathan Jackson, would represent Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jonathan Jackson remains in office after his first election victory in 2022.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist from Vermont who supported Jackson’s 1988 campaign, said in a statement Tuesday that Jackson had been a friend and ally for nearly 40 years and credited Jackson with founding state-of-the-art progressivism.
“His founding of the Rainbow Coalition, then a revolutionary idea that spawned a grassroots movement of working people – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay and straight – laid the foundation for the modern progressive movement that continues to fight for his vision of economic, racial, social and environmental justice,” Sanders wrote. “Jackson has had a profound impact on our country. His politics of togetherness and solidarity should guide us for the future.”
“Equal justice is not inevitable”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, a Democrat and Baptist pastor, recalled the impact Jackson’s presidential run had on a newborn Warnock who grew up in public housing.
“With his own unique eloquence and rhythmic rhetoric, Jesse Jackson reminded America that equal justice is not inevitable,” he said. “It requires vigilance and commitment, and for freedom fighters, sacrifice. His service was poetry and spiritual power in the public sphere. It advanced King’s dream and steered the arc of history closer to justice.”
Jaime Harrison, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Jackson’s 1988 campaign, which culminated with a convention speech praising the multiracial identity of the United States, inspired him.
As a “poor black boy from South Carolina,” Harrison was drawn to Jackson’s leadership of the convention hall after gathering more than 1,000 delegates.
“He did not win the nomination,” Harrison wrote. “But it captured our imagination.”
Adrian Ashford contributed to this report.
