{"id":16495,"date":"2026-02-17T15:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=16495"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:46:53","slug":"the-rev-jesse-jackson-pioneering-civil-rights-activist-and-racial-pathfinder-dies-at-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/the-rev-jesse-jackson-pioneering-civil-rights-activist-and-racial-pathfinder-dies-at-84\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rev. Jesse Jackson, pioneering civil rights activist and racial \u2018pathfinder,\u2019 dies at 84"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, the towering civil rights leader whose moral vision and fiery oratory reshaped the Democratic Party and America, has died<\/a>, his son said. He was 84.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson, a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., had been hospitalized<\/a> in recent months and was under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy. He died Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family, according to a statement<\/a> from his nonprofit social justice organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis 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 \u2013 from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilizing millions to register to vote \u2013 leaving an indelible mark on history,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jackson was what one pundit called \u201can American original<\/a>.\u201d He was born to an unwed teenage mom in Greenville, South Carolina, during the Jim Crow era but rose to become a civil rights icon and a groundbreaking politician who mounted two electrifying runs for the presidency in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson\u2019s dual bids for the Democratic presidential nomination inspired Black America and stunned political observers who marveled at his ability<\/a> to draw<\/a> White voters. He was a Black crossover figure long before Barack Obama hit the national stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson first rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a close aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. After King\u2019s assassination in 1968, Jackson became one of the most transformative civil rights leaders in America \u2014 to the chagrin of some of King\u2019s aides, who thought he was too brash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his\u00a0Rainbow Coalition,<\/a>\u00a0a bold alliance of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asian Americans, andNative Americans , helped pave the way for a more progressive Democratic Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of Jackson\u2019s signature phrases was \u201cKeep hope alive.\u201d He repeated it so often that some began to parody it, but it never seemed to lose meaning for him. He was a force for social justice over three eras: the Jim Crow period, the civil rights era and the post-civil rights era that culminated with the election of Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through his eloquence and singular drive, Jackson didn\u2019t just keep hope alive for himself. His dream of a vibrant, multiracial America still inspires millions of Americans today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson\u2019s vision remade the Democratic Party. He was the first presidential candidate who made a concerted effort to challenge the Democratic Party\u2019s prioritization of White, moderate, middle-class voters, says\u00a0David Masciotra<\/a>, author of \u201cI Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Democratic party that now represents a multicultural America and has someone like Kamala Harris as the (former) Vice President and Obama as the former President began in many ways with those Jackson campaigns,\u201d Masciotra says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obama may have never made it to the White House without Jackson\u2019s pioneering presidential runs. Jackson successfully fought to change<\/a> the awarding of delegates during the Democratic primaries from a winner-take-all system that benefitted frontrunners to a proportional system that helped other candidates even if they didn\u2019t win a state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those changes helped<\/a> Obama mount a come-from-behind victory over frontrunner Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries, Masciotra says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson was once asked if it hurt that he didn\u2019t become the nation\u2019s first Black president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d he told a\u00a0Guardian<\/a>\u00a0columnist, \u201cbecause I was a trailblazer, I was a pathfinder. I had to deal with doubt and cynicism and fears about a Black person running. There were Black scholars writing papers about why I was wasting my time. Even Blacks said a Black couldn\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson smashed the perception that a Black person couldn\u2019t be a viable presidential candidate. Some pundits predicted he would be outclassed by his more experienced political opponents during the presidential debates. They grudgingly recognized his charisma, but many never gave him credit for his analytical ability and political savvy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt turned out he not only held his own; he often won those debates,\u201d Masciotra says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political observers shouldn\u2019t have been surprised. Jackson was one of the most gifted communicators in American history. Even as a child, he had a preternatural facility with words and metaphors. Like King, he\u00a0injected<\/a>\u00a0the rhyming, cadences and poetic imagery of Black church preaching into American political life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJesse was an unusual kind of fella, even when he was just learning to talk,\u201d Noah Robinson<\/a>, Jackson\u2019s father, told<\/a> The New York Times in 1984. \u201cHe would say, \u2018I\u2019m going to lead people through the rivers of the water.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson\u2019s signature line, \u201cI Am Somebody,\u201d which he often chanted during speeches, was aimed as much at himself as it was to his audience. Marshall Frady, who wrote \u201cJesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson,\u201d said<\/a> Jackson was prodigiously gifted but was plagued by \u201cchasmic insecurities despite all he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those insecurities sprang from his childhood. Jackson was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina \u2014 a double outcast because of his race and the circumstances of his birth. He was born in the Jim Crow South to Helen Burns, then an unmarried 16-year-old, and her married-next-door neighbor, Noah Robinson. Burns married a year later, and her husband, Charles Jackson, adopted her son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biographers invariably describe Jackson as feeling lonely<\/a> and different as a child. He was teased<\/a> by classmates for being \u201ca nobody<\/a> who had no daddy.\u201d Frady described Jackson as an \u201caggrieved and brooding little boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jackson told a New York Times reporter that he had a \u201cfather surplus.\u201d He said his biological and adoptive fathers were friends, and that he inherited his strong ego and \u201csense of dignity\u201d from his biological father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dIt is where I get the drive to think I could change the South through the civil rights movement and run for President,\u201d Jackson said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson was able to build the kind of stable family life that was denied to him as a kid. In\u00a01962 he married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown,\u00a0<\/a>who was in many ways as dynamic and\u00a0strong-willed<\/a>\u00a0as he was. They had\u00a0five children and\u00a0<\/a>stayed together through the wild swings of fortune that Jackson endured during his six decades in public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson once said<\/a> that \u201cboth tears and sweat are salty,\u201d but while tears will get you sympathy, \u201csweat will get you change.\u201d He took his childhood tears and channeled them into a relentless activism that only flagged when he announced<\/a> in 2017 that he was suffering from Parkinson\u2019s disease. His family later said he had progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), which has similar symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson\u2019s other frailties were evident long before that diagnosis. He was accused <\/a>of exaggerating his actions following King\u2019s assassination and making anti-Semitic remarks.<\/a> He also fathered a daughter after an affair with a former aide. There were few national leaders whose highs and lows played out on the national stage like Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet he continued to make change while making headlines. In 1984 he negotiated<\/a> the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners held in Cuba and of Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, an African-American pilot held hostage in Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999 he negotiated the release of three US soldiers who had been held in what was then Yugoslavia for more than a month. A year later, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation\u2019s highest civilian honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his later years, Jackson became an elder statesman in the civil rights movement. He was a bridge between the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the contemporary era, when many young White Americans saw nothing odd about a Black man in the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Obama delivered his election-night victory speech in Chicago\u2019s Grant Park in 2008 to a massive crowd of cheering onlookers, the cameras caught Jackson looking on, tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cried because I thought about those who made it possible who were not there,\u201d Jackson later explained. \u201cPeople who paid a real price: Ralph Abernathy, Dr. King, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer\u2026 those in the movement in the South.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson suffered additional health problems in recent years. He and his wife were hospitalized in August 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19. And in November 2021 he was hospitalized after falling and hitting his head<\/a> during a protest at Howard University in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was arrested in 2021 while urging Congress to protect voting rights<\/a>, and led a march<\/a> for criminal justice reform that same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson announced plans to step down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023, more than 50 years after he founded the international human and civil rights organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His legacy was celebrated the following year when he was honored on stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which would see Kamala Harris become the first Black woman to lead a major-party ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson is\u00a0survived<\/a>\u00a0by his wife, Jacqueline, and their five children, Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, and Jacqueline. He is also\u00a0survived<\/a>\u00a0by a sixth child, Ashley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor:msserwanga@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, the towering civil rights leader whose moral vision and fiery oratory reshaped the Democratic Party<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16489,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/the-powerful-legacy-of-americas-civil-rights-icon-jesse-jackson-dead-at-84\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":0},"title":"The powerful legacy of America’s civil rights icon Jesse Jackson dead at 84","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"February 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Jackson's presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 played a significant role in shaping the modern Democratic Party The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader who bridged the era of Martin Luther King Jr. with the modern world and whose two presidential runs in the 1980s set the stage for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tribute"","block_context":{"text":"Tribute","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/tribute\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/unnamed-scaled.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1486,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/usa-civil-rights-icon-john-lewis-dies-at-80\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":1},"title":"USA CIVIL RIGHTS ICON JOHN LEWIS DIES AT 80","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"July 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Adopted from The Guardian Lewis helped Martin Luther King organise the March on Washington in 1963 and once suffered a broken skull at the hands of state troopers John Lewis, the civil rights hero and US Democratic congressman, has died at the age of 80. Lewis, the son of sharecroppers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign International News"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign International News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/foreign-international-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/obama.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3578,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/archbishop-kaziimba-happy-about-kumi-diocese-high-court-ruling\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":2},"title":"ARCHBISHOP KAZIIMBA HAPPY ABOUT KUMI DIOCESE HIGH COURT RULING","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"July 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba, has welcomed the a decision delivered by Justice \u00a0Ssekaana Musa of the High Court and Head of the Civil Division \u00a0on the case of Rev. Charles Oode Okunya (Plaintiff) vs. The Registered Trustees of the Church of Uganda\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210630-WA0289.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210630-WA0289.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210630-WA0289.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210630-WA0289.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7603,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/uganda-s-supreme-court-holds-special-session-in-honour-of-the-late-justice-opio-aweri\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":3},"title":"Uganda ‘S Supreme Court holds special session in honour of the late Justice Opio Aweri","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Uganda's special Supreme Court Session has held a special session in honour of the Late Justice Rubby Opio Aweri at the Judiciary headquarters in Kampala. The session was presided over by a bench of five Justices of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny Dollo The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG-20221212-WA0036.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG-20221212-WA0036.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG-20221212-WA0036.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG-20221212-WA0036.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13220,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/quincy-jones-music-titan-who-worked-with-michael-jackson-and-frank-sinatra-has-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":4},"title":"Quincy Jones, music titan who worked with Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, has died","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"November 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Jones, whose career spanned seven decades, is known for producing Jackson's historic Thriller album Quincy Jones, the music producer and composer, has died at the age of 91. Jones worked with\u00a0Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and many other artists. Among his best-known credits was as the producer of Jackson's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/quincy-jones-musician_6738361.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/quincy-jones-musician_6738361.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/quincy-jones-musician_6738361.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/quincy-jones-musician_6738361.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/quincy-jones-musician_6738361.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8399,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/late-justice-kenneth-kakuru-was-a-human-rights-champion-chief-justice\/","url_meta":{"origin":16495,"position":5},"title":"Late Justice Kenneth Kakuru was a Human Rights Champion-Chief Justice","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"March 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chief Justice, Alphonse Owiny Dollo has described \u00a0the late Court of Appeal Justice Kenneth Kakuru as an invaluable defender of human rights that will be missed greatly . The outspoken Justice Kakuru died at Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya\u2019s capital, Nairobi aged 65. Following his passing ,the Chief Justice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Kakuru.jpeg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Kakuru.jpeg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Kakuru.jpeg 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0aOV-4i3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16499,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16495\/revisions\/16499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}