The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, who rose from segregated Greenville, South Carolina to become one of the most visible and polarizing leaders of the American civil rights movement, died on February 17, 2026. He was 84. His family, speaking on behalf of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition he founded, said he "died peacefully" at home, surrounded by family, and asked the public to honor his life by continuing the work he championed.
Early life and rise to public life
Born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, Jackson's story was shaped by the segregated South and the promise of education. He attended North Carolina A&T, where he became politically active, and moved to Chicago in the 1960s to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He became a close lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his presence at key moments in that era cemented his place in the movement's second generation.
Organizing, Operation PUSH, and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Jackson built his power as an organizer and troubleshooter, translating civil rights campaigning into economic pressure and corporate accountability campaigns. He founded Operation PUSH in the early 1970s, which emphasized job creation, education, and business opportunities for Black communities. In 1984 he launched the National Rainbow Coalition; the two groups later merged to create Rainbow/PUSH, which became both a Chicago institution and a national platform.
Key achievements and organizational work:
- Founded Operation PUSH, an economic justice and job-focused initiative in the early 1970s.
- Established the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, which broadened his reach beyond Chicago.
- Merged the groups in 1996, creating Rainbow/PUSH to combine civil rights, economic, and human rights advocacy.
- Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000 for decades of activism.
Two presidential bids and national politics
Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, campaigns that shifted the conversation about race and power in American politics. Though he did not capture the nomination, his campaigns delivered a new constituency to the Democratic Party and popularized the language of a "rainbow coalition" that sought to bring together diverse constituencies.
Campaign year | Significance | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
1984 | First major national run by a black candidate for the Democratic nomination, mobilized new voters and attention to economic justice | Did not win nomination, raised profile nationally |
1988 | Built on earlier effort, emphasized coalition politics and supervisory roles in party debates | Did not win nomination, consolidated influence within the party |
Jackson later accepted the role of a public political player outside elected office, serving as a shadow senator for the District of Columbia in the 1990s and using his platform to press for voting rights and corporate change.
A global figure and controversial diplomat
On the international stage Jackson negotiated in hostage and humanitarian cases, from Latin America to Africa, winning plaudits for personal interventions. He used celebrity, moral suasion, and occasional brinkmanship to press governments and companies, often bringing attention to human rights abuses and economic exclusion.
At home, his activism took many forms, from voter drives and corporate boycotts to church-based moral appeals. Supporters point to communities helped, contracts shifted, and political openings created for Black candidates. Critics say his style sometimes substituted spectacle for structural policy, and that personal ambition at times complicated alliances.
Health, decline, and final years
In recent years Jackson's public life slowed. He disclosed a Parkinson's diagnosis in 2017, and later doctors identified progressive supranuclear palsy, a rarer neurodegenerative condition that affects movement and balance. He stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH in 2023, citing health concerns. Jackson was hospitalized for observation in November 2025, and returned home to be cared for by family before his death in February 2026.
"Our father was a servant leader," Jackson's family said in announcing his passing, a short line that captured how those closest to him framed his life.
A brief timeline of recent health events:
```
2017 - Jackson announces Parkinson's diagnosis
2023 - Steps down as president of Rainbow/PUSH
Nov 2025 - Hospitalized for observation of a neurodegenerative condition
Feb 17, 2026 - Dies peacefully at home, surrounded by family
```
Reactions, tributes, and the public conversation
Within hours of the announcement, political leaders, activists, clergy, and former colleagues offered tributes. Many described Jackson as a bridge between the King generation and later movements, praising his energy for voter registration and his push on economic issues. Former presidents, lawmakers from both parties, and local Chicago leaders noted his role in expanding political space for Black leaders.
At the same time, his death revived long-standing debates about his methods, rhetoric, and ambition. Some colleagues in the civil rights community faulted him for occasional self-promotion, while others argued that his brashness was an effective tool in a landscape that too often ignored Black suffering. Historians and journalists identify Jackson as both an architect of modern identity politics and a figure whose career complicated neat heroic narratives.
Criticisms and contested moments
Jackson's long public life brought accomplishments and controversies. Observers point to episodes where his claims about his role were questioned, and to times when his tactics strained alliances. Family scandals and political missteps involving others close to him also complicated public perceptions of his household and network. Those critiques exist alongside a record of measurable gains for many communities, and scholars say the two truthfully coexist.
What his record leaves behind
Jackson's life altered the terrain of American politics. He helped make racial justice a matter of economic leverage, helped normalize the idea of a national Black political constituency, and showed that protest could be married to electoral politics in new ways. His signature phrases and organizing models live on in movements that followed.
Bold facts to anchor the record:
- 84, his age at death.
- Two, the number of times he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988.
- 2000, the year he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- 2023, the year he stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH.
Multiple perspectives, one consequence
Sympathy for his family, and admiration from millions, sit beside sober appraisals that place Jackson in the messy middle of American reform. For supporters he was an unrepentant fighter for the poor and excluded, who used faith and forceful rhetoric to win results. For critics he was a polarizing, occasionally overreaching figure whose ambitions sometimes muddied his moral authority. Both views are part of the rounded public memory that will be debated in the months ahead.
Looking ahead: services and the civic moment
Rainbow/PUSH officials said public observances will be held in Chicago, and funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days. The national conversation following his death is likely to revisit his wins and his missteps, a conversation that will shape how future generations read the arc of post-1960s civil rights activism.
Conclusion
Jesse Jackson's life was a study in contradiction and consequence, a mixture of prophetic moral language and hard-nosed political calculation. He transformed American protest into organized pressure, and he insisted that the struggle for civil rights include the battlegrounds of jobs and corporate boardrooms. Whether judged as a searing moral voice, a shrewd political operator, or both, his influence on American civic life is indisputable, and his passing marks the end of an era and the start of another conversation about how to carry his work forward.