US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies aged 84

Civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the US's most influential Black voices, has died peacefully this morning aged 84, his family said in a statement. No cause of death has been named, however, Jackson revealed in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's.

"Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world," his family wrote in a statement.

"His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by."

Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns on 8 October 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, and later adopted the last name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson.

He received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois after excelling in his segregated high school, but he later transferred to the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina and graduated with a degree in sociology.

After taking part in his first sit-in in Greenville in 1960, he joined the civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, where he became friends with Martin Luther King Jr.

Jackson became a prominent advocate for ending apartheid in South Africa and, in the 1990s, served as presidential special envoy for Africa for Bill Clinton.

In 1996 he founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based non-profit organisation focused on social justice and political activism.

With two failed bids for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1980s, Jackson was the most well-known Black candidate for the US presidency until Barack Obama was elected president in 2008.

He openly wept in the crowd as Obama celebrated his 2008 presidential election and stood with George Floyd's family in 2021 after a court convicted ex-police officer Derek Chauvin of his murder.

Tributes are being made to the long-time civil rights activist, with Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro saying Jackson was an “unrelenting crusader for civil rights, equality and opportunity”.

Rev. Jesse Jackson was a change maker, a boundary breaker, and a passionate and unrelenting crusader for civil rights, equality and opportunity. To be around him felt like you were experiencing history. ⁰⁰It was an honor to share the pulpit with him back in September of 2016 at… pic.twitter.com/FrEK716peM

— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) February 17, 2026

Reverend Al Sharpton wrote on X that he prayed with Jackson's family on the phone and said that Jackson was "a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world".

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has also paid tribute, writing, "Today we mourn the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a giant of the civil rights movement who never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise."

"He marched, he ran, he organised and he preached justice without apology. "May we honour him not just in words, but in struggle."

SDLP MP Colum Eastwood honoured Jackson in a post on X, recalling the time he came to Derry.

"When Jesse Jackson came to Derry, he talked about power in the great linkage of struggles to overcome oppression," Eastwood wrote.

"His commitment to justice and equality was inspiring for people in Ireland and across the world. "Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam."

When Jesse Jackson came to Derry he talked about ‘power in the great linkage of struggles to overcome oppression.’ His commitment to justice and equality was inspiring for people in Ireland and across the world.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. pic.twitter.com/06G4kLg5Jj

— Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) February 17, 2026