American civil rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister Jesse Louis Jackson has died. He was 84 years old.
According to a source close to the family, Jackson, who was Martin Luther King Jr’s protégé and aide, passed away in hospital surrounded by his loved ones.
“Our father was a servant leader not only to our family but also to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” said the Jackson family in a statement.
“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 to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”
Jackson had been managing progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurodegenerative disorder, since April 2025, which has led to hospitalisations and ongoing care.
He was last reported to be discharged from an acute care facility in late December 2025.
Jackson was one of the most recognisable figures of the American civil rights movement, rising to prominence as a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr during the 1960s.
He was present in Memphis in 1968 when King was assassinated, a moment that profoundly shaped his journey as an activist and preacher.
Presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988
In the decades that followed, Jackson founded Operation PUSH and later the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, championing economic empowerment, voter registration, and equal opportunities for marginalised communities in the US.
He twice ran for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, breaking racial barriers and laying groundwork for future black political leaders, including former US president Barack Obama.
Jackson was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, as Jesse Louis Burns. He has dedicated his life to bringing people together on common grounds across the lines of race, culture, class, gender, and belief.
While an undergraduate at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, Jackson became involved in the civil rights movement.
In 1965 he went to Selma, Alabama, to march with Martin Luther King Jr and subsequently became involved in King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
He first visited South Africa in 1979 following the death of Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko.
He attracted huge crowds at his rallies in Soweto, where he denounced South Africa’s oppressive system of apartheid.
In 1979, when he visited South Africa, he spoke out against apartheid, and he travelled to the strife-ridden Middle East and campaigned for the Palestinians to be granted their own state.
Policy of constructive engagement
Upon his return to the US, Jackson intensified efforts to mobilise opposition to the terrorist state of South Africa and reshape US foreign policy on the country.
From the outset, Jackson strongly opposed then-president Ronald Reagan’s policy of constructive engagement with the apartheid regime.
He worked tirelessly to mobilise public opposition to the US’s stance. Jackson entered the 1984 presidential race with the anti-apartheid struggle at the centre of his foreign policy agenda and campaign platform.
Beyond American borders, he was a vocal supporter of the anti-apartheid movement and stood in solidarity with former South African president Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa during their struggle for freedom.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing of Rev Jackson at the age of 84.
On behalf of all South Africans, President Ramaphosa extended his condolences to the Jackson family, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the many organisations within the American Civil Rights Movement and in causes elsewhere in the world who were inspired by the Rev Jesse Jackson’s principles and leadership.
President Ramaphosa says the Rev Jesse Jackson’s irrepressible campaigns against apartheid and his support for the liberation struggle was a towering contribution to the global anti-apartheid cause.
In 2013, the Rev Jesse Jackson was awarded South Africa’s National Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo in Silver for dedicating his life to challenge societies and governments to recognise that all people are born equal, and that everyone is in equal measure entitled to life, liberty, prosperity and human rights.
The award honoured his excellent contribution to the fight against apartheid.
President Ramaphosa said: “We are sad to bid farewell to a global moral authority who gave voice to struggles within the United States as well as struggles for fundamental human rights and democracy around the world, including our own.
“Mentored by the equally resolute and charismatic Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Jesse Jackson devoted himself to the cause of justice as a human endeavour without borders.
“In 2026, we reflect with deep appreciation and admiration on Jesse Jackson’s visit to Southern Africa 40 years ago this year to share his support for our liberation struggle with leaders and citizens in Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, the then Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“From Selma in the American South to Soweto in 1979, where he visited following the death of Steve Biko, Jesse Jackson defied the architects of apartheid and executors of brutality to declare that all people are equal and that justice would ultimately triumph over injustice.
“His campaigns for an end to apartheid included disinvestment from the apartheid economy and challenging the support the regime enjoyed in certain circles and institutions internationally.
“We are deeply indebted to the energy, principled clarity and personal risk with which he supported our struggle and campaigned for freedom and equality in other parts of the world.
“I will treasure the opportunity I had to do the 33rd Gandhi Walk with Jesse Jackson in April 2018, where he shared with me his deep commitment to his continuing vision for a better world as well as his special relationship with South Africa.
“He has fought a good fight and run the race which his Baptist ministry inspired him to run. He made the world a better place but he has also influenced us to maintain his good fight in places where injustice and inequality persist.
Tributes are expected to pour in from global leaders, civil rights organisations, and faith communities, honouring a man whose life was defined by activism, faith, and an unrelenting call for justice.
Jackson’s passing marks the end of an era in the global civil rights movement, but his legacy, rooted in equality, dignity, and political participation, will endure.
The family added that public observances will be held in Chicago.
