US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson died aged 84 on Tuesday morning surrounded by relatives, according to a statement released by his family.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Civil Rights leader and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr,” the family said, adding he died “peacefully.”
His cause of death has not been released, but Jackson had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy and was in hospital late last year.
Tributes poured in for the prominent activist who twice ran to be Democrats’ presidential nominee, including from the first black US president, Barack Obama.
Jackson is survived by his wife Jacqueline and their children: Santita, Jesse Jr, Jonathan, Yusef, Jacqueline and Ashley.
In their statement, Jackson’s family said his “unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity”.
“A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilising millions to register to vote – leaving an indelible mark on history,” they added.
Along with working with Martin Luther King, Jr, and running for president in 1984 and 1988, Jackson is remembered as the founder of a nonprofit organisation focused on social justice and civil rights, the Rainbow PUSH coalition.
Calling Jackson a “true giant”, Obama said in a statement that Jackson’s “two historic runs for president” had “laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land”. Obama added that his wife Michelle “got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager”.
“For more than 60 years, Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history,” the Obamas also said in the statement.
“From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect.”
Jackson was admitted to hospital last November, and doctors said he had been diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in April 2025, revising an earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease that Jackson had said was made in 2015.
Both diseases affect the brain, nervous system, and muscle control and, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association and the group CurePSP, many people with PSP are initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s because a number of the symptoms overlap.
Born in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson became involved in politics at an early age. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader in Martin Luther King, Jr ‘s Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was with King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
Over the course of his career, Jackson built a movement to bring America’s increasingly diverse population together, with a message that centred on poor and working-class Americans.
After his presidential runs, Jackson later positioned himself as an elder statesman within the Democratic Party.
His son Jesse Jackson, Jr is a former US congressman.
Shortly after his death was announced, politicians and other public figures took to social media to mourn the loss of Jackson.
US President Donald Trump said he knew Jackson “long before becoming president”.
“He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,'” Trump said. “He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!”
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, a former secretary of state, also shared tributes, saying they were friends with Jackson for “almost fifty years”.
“Reverend Jackson championed human dignity and helped create opportunities for countless people to live better lives,” they said in a statement.
House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Jackson “was a legendary voice for the voiceless,” in a tribute to the late civil rights leader posted on X.
“For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” the Democrat said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the civil rights leader “never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise”.
“He marched, he ran, he organized and he preached justice without apology,” Mamdani said.
King’s daughter Bernice said Jackson had “devoted his life to lifting people in poverty, the marginalized, and those pushed to society’s edges”.
Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, who worked closely with Jackson during the civil rights movement, said Jackson was a “consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world”.
“He told us we were somebody and made us believe. I will always cherish him taking me under his wing, and I will forever try to do my part to keep hope alive,” Sharpton said.
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