Chicago, IL – JonesboroRightNow.com – Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, who protested against racial injustice throughout his life and all over the country, including in Jonesboro, died Tuesday at age 84.
Jackson led the Civil Rights Movement after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. He spoke against racial injustice throughout his life, even well into the Black Lives Matter movement, the Associated Press reported.
Jackson appeared in Jonesboro in 2012 to protest the death of Chavis Carter. K8 News reported that the Jonesboro Police Department and the State Medical Examiner’s Office said Carter shot himself while handcuffed in a police car. Jackson, along with the hundreds of protesters who marched with him, told K8 News they wanted justice in the case and called for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation.
Jackson often repeated the “I am Somebody” poem while speaking. He ran as a Democrat for president twice and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
He founded the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a human and civil rights organization that utilizes grassroots advocacy and issue-oriented strategies to empower people. It also collects data on nonpartisan initiatives, organizes seminars on policy concerns, and more. Jackson stepped down as president of the organization in 2023, according to the AP.
The AP reported Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 and was later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative disorder whose symptoms mirror Parkinson’s.
Jackson’s family announced his death in a statement online, which said he died peacefully on Tuesday morning at his home in Chicago, surrounded by family.
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the statement read. “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.”