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CHICAGO (WLS) — The revered civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson, has passed away at the age of 84, as confirmed by his family on Tuesday.
According to a family statement, Rev. Jackson died peacefully while surrounded by his loved ones.
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“Our father was a champion for justice — not only for our family but for the oppressed, the voiceless, and the neglected worldwide,” the Jackson family expressed. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became an extension of our family. His steadfast dedication to justice, equality, and love inspired millions. We ask that you honor his legacy by continuing to uphold the values he cherished.”
Jesse Jackson Jr., his son, appeared on ABC7 Tuesday morning to commemorate his father.
“Reflecting on his life and contributions is challenging because, for over six decades, he devoted himself to creating a better nation and world,” Jackson Jr. remarked. “Though he faced criticism, as we all do, our family is deeply grateful during this difficult time. I extend thanks to all Chicagoans, especially those in the city, for supporting our family’s mission and allowing him to thrive here. The city enriched him, and he, in turn, enriched the city, leaving us all better for having known him.”
His foundation as a civil rights champion began with his upbringing in South Carolina. Born in the segregated town of Greenville, his mother, Helen Burns, was a high school student at the time. Jackson was taught to ride in the back of the bus.
He did well in school and was accepted to the University of Illinois on a football scholarship. But on a visit back home to South Carolina, he joined a demonstration of Black students at the whites-only public library.
“Some of my classmates and I, we were arrested trying to use a public library in Greenville, South Carolina. We could not buy ice cream in the front door of the Howard Johnson,” Jackson said.
Jackson transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, and he found his focus in the civil rights movement.
“I am somebody. I may be poor, but I am somebody,” he said.
In 1965, Jackson marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Alabama marches from Selma to Montgomery, the state capitol.
“Against that setting, he dreamed of a day when we judge by character not condemned by color,” Jackson said.
Jackson’s passion impressed Dr. King. Although, their relationship was not always smooth. Jackson was appointed director of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, the economic arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The purpose was to create jobs for African Americans and support Black-owned businesses.
Jackson was with Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
“Shot, killed in cold blood, all I can remember is some voice saying, ‘one bullet cannot kill a movement: We must keep going,’” Jackson said.
Two months later, in June, Jackson was ordained a minister.
In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, which later became the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Based on Chicago’s South Side, it would become a powerful political and religious force, urging economic development and opportunity for Black Americans and racial diversity in hiring and management, using the muscle of boycotts against businesses that stood in the way of its efforts.
Coca Cola was a target, as were Anheuser Busch, Burger King, Nike and CBS Television, among others.
The man who demanded respect from giant corporations could also crack up America on “Saturday Night Live.”
His rendition of a Dr. Seuss classic in his trademark speaking style is iconic.
But over decades, Jackson was growing in political stature, and in his influence on international matters.
He traveled to Syria in 1983 to secure the release of a captured American Navy pilot.
He helped to negotiate the release of 22 Americans being held in Cuba by Fidel Castro.
His private diplomacy found success over the years, as well as his growing political strength.
In 1984, Jackson made his first run for president of the United States.
“This is not a Black campaign. It’s a campaign through the eyes of the hurt and the rejected,” Jackson said.
But his primary campaign took a hit when he used derogatory terms for Jewish people in New York City in a private conversation that became public.
He would run for president again in 1988, coming in second in the Democratic primary.
Jackson’s own goal of leading the nation from the Oval Office would not happen, but ABC7 Chicago was with Jackson in Denver in 2008: the night Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
“I practiced not crying tonight. I was gonna be real tough because I had a lot of emotions,” Jackson said.
Tears would fill Jackson’s eyes three months later, watching in Chicago as America elected its first Black president.
“We went from the balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. King was killed, to the balcony the White House in Washington, President Barack Obama waving over the Potomac River,” Jackson said.
It was late 2017 when Jackson announced he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the same condition that took his father’s life.
The reverend’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition now says that years later, doctors instead diagnosed him with PSP, or progressive supranuclear palsy.
It didn’t slow his quest for civil rights and equality, protesting the deadly police shooting of Laquan McDonald.
“We need a sense of fairness and, and justice applies to all,” Jackson said.
In July 2023, Jackson stepped down as the head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
And in July of 2025, the National Bar Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jackson left large footprints for the journey that remains.
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