Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death prompts outpouring of tributes and praise
A flood of tributes have poured in for the Rev. Jesse Jackson after his family announced the civil rights icon’s death Tuesday.
Activists, public figures and many of the nation’s most prominent politicians, including President Donald Trump, took to social media Tuesday morning to remember Jackson, 84, a civil rights pioneer, Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate.
His family said Jackson died peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. The cause of his death was not immediately clear, but he had been living with an illness, including Parkinson’s disease, for several years.
Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said in an article on X that Jackson was his “mentor.” He said in a separate statement that “our nation has lost one of its greatest moral voices” who “carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice.”
“Rev. Jackson stood wherever dignity was under attack, from apartheid abroad to injustice at home. His voice echoed in boardrooms and prison cells. His presence changed rooms. His faith never wavered,” Sharpton said.
Bernice King, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughters, said in an article on X that Jackson was “a gifted negotiator and courageous bridge builder, serving humanity by bringing calm to tense spaces and creating pathways where none existed.”
“Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. dedicated his life to uplifting those living in poverty, the marginalized and those pushed to the margins of society,” she said. “Through Operation PUSH, he pushed back barriers and opened doors for Black people and other excluded communities to access opportunity and dignity.”
“With the Rainbow Coalition, he presented a bold vision of an inclusive society, uniting people of all races, classes and creeds to build power together and broaden the table of economic opportunity,” she added.
Operation PUSH was a nonprofit organization with roots in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, aimed at empowering black people. Jackson also founded the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, a nonprofit organization with similar goals, before merging the two organizations in 1996 to form Rainbow/PUSH.
Trump also weighed in on Jackson’s passing, saying he was “a force of nature like few others before him.” Trump also said he provided office space to the Rainbow Coalition in Manhattan’s financial district, “addressed its demand for criminal justice reform” and provided long-term funding to historically black colleges and universities.
“Despite being falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics of the Radical Left, ALL Democrats, I have always had the pleasure of helping Jesse along the way,” Trump wrote.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden also released statements on Jackson’s death.
“Rev. Jackson believed deeply in the promise of America: that we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives,” Biden wrote. “Even though we never fully lived up to that promise, he dedicated his life to making sure we never fully strayed from it either.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris released a lengthy statement on X, calling Jackson “one of America’s greatest patriots,” “a selfless leader, mentor and friend.”
Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, said she had a “Jesse Jackson for President” bumper sticker on her car when she was a law student.
“As I drove across the Bay Bridge, you wouldn’t believe how people from all walks of life could wave at me or honk their horns in support of me,” she said. “These were small interactions, but they illustrate Rev. Jackson’s lifelong work: elevating the dignity of workers, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and our nation.”
She added that “Jackson’s presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 electrified millions of Americans and showed them what could be possible.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first black person to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, called Jackson “a legendary voice of the powerful voiceless civil rights champion and an extraordinary pioneer.”
“For decades, as he toiled in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the fight for freedom and justice for all,” Jeffries said on
Rep. Bennie G Thompson, D-Miss., one of the most prominent black politicians in Congress, called for prayers for Jackson’s family.
“Rev. Jesse Jackson inspired many of us to not be afraid to try to make a difference. His rhetoric and direct action made him a powerful force to be reckoned with,” he said in an article on X.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, called Jackson “a giant of the civil rights movement who never stopped demanding that America keep its promises.”
“He marched, he ran, he organized, and he preached justice without apology,” he said in a post on X. “May we honor him not only in words, but in fight.”
The NAACP said in a statement that “Rev. Jackson’s passing marks the loss of a towering moral voice, but the movement he helped build will carry his light forward.”
“His legacy calls on each of us to remain engaged, organized and faithful in the pursuit of justice,” the group said.
