CHICAGO — Feb. 17, 2026 | By Staff Report
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., civil rights leader and presidential candidate, dies at 84
Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., the civil rights activist who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and later ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination twice, died Tuesday at the age of 84.
The death was first reported by national news organizations Tuesday afternoon. Jackson’s family released a brief statement confirming he had passed away peacefully at home. No cause of death was given. Jackson had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy last fall after several years living with Parkinson’s disease.
“Our father was first a servant leader to his family and the larger family of humanity,” the family said. “He embodied a life of service and sacrifice.”
Jackson founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago and remained its president emeritus. The organization said Tuesday evening it would organize public remembrances in the coming days.
From civil rights foot soldier to presidential candidate
Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns on Oct. 8, 1941 in Greenville, S.C. His mother was 16 at the time. His father, Noah Louis Robinson, was a former professional boxer who already had a wife and children. Jackson was raised by his mother and her husband, Charles Henry Jackson, who gave him his last name.
He played quarterback at North Carolina A&T before enrolling at Chicago Theological Seminary. Jackson joined King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1965 and rose quickly through the organization. He was present when King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Three years later Jackson started Operation PUSH — People United to Save Humanity — in Chicago. The group focused on economic empowerment in the black community. In 1984 he merged it with his National Rainbow Coalition to form Rainbow PUSH.
Two presidential campaigns
Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. He won more than 3 million votes in the first campaign, carrying five primaries. Four years later he won 11 contests and took 7 million votes, coming close to the nomination.
His campaigns brought new voters into the Democratic primaries. Jackson spoke often about economic justice and bringing together diverse communities — blacks, Latinos, labor union members, feminists and gay people — under his “rainbow coalition.”
| Campaign | Primaries Won | Popular Vote |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 5 | 3.1 million |
| 1988 | 11 | 7.1 million |
Family and later years
Jackson married Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1962. They had five children together. Their eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., served as a U.S. representative from Illinois from 1995 until 2012. He resigned from Congress amid a federal corruption investigation and later served prison time.
The younger Jackson has not commented publicly on his father’s death as of Tuesday evening.
Jackson’s health declined in recent years. He announced a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017. He was hospitalized with COVID-19 along with his wife in 2021. Last November doctors told him he had progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disorder that affects movement, balance and cognition.
Reactions from civil rights leaders
Al Sharpton, another longtime civil rights activist, said Jackson had been “like an older brother” to him.
“Rev. Jackson taught us how to fight with dignity and principle,” Sharpton said in a statement. “He opened doors that remain open today.”
The Rev. Jackson is survived by his wife, five children, more than a dozen grandchildren, and thousands of people whose lives he touched through Rainbow PUSH and his civil rights work.
Arrangements for memorial services were not immediately available Tuesday night. Rainbow PUSH said more information would be released Wednesday.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
