The Rev. Jesse Jackson died Tuesday morning after being hospitalized for some time. He was 84.
He died with his family at his side, a statement from the family said.
Jackson rose from being an aide to Martin Luther King Jr. to being one of the most celebrated civil rights leaders in the U.S. and shifted the Democratic Party to embrace a multicultural approach to politics. Jackson was the first presidential candidate to support LGBTQ+ rights in their platform.
He founded the Rainbow Coalition, which brought together activists supporting civil rights for all.
"Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world," the family said. "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 you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by."
Jackson is survived by his wife Jacqueline, children, and grandchildren.
Information about his funeral will be available soon.
"The fight for justice requires courage, hope, and a relentlessness that will not be denied. Reverend Jesse Jackson embodied that fight every day,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement. “From disrupting political systems and building people power to helping this country imagine a freer future for all of us, Rev. Jackson was a force. His historic presidential campaigns paved the way for generations of Black leaders to imagine ourselves in rooms we were once told were closed to us. Reverend Jackson also stood up when it mattered; when it wasn’t easy and when it wasn’t popular. His support for marriage equality and for LGBTQ+ people affirmed a simple, powerful truth: our liberation is bound together.
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