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By Goli Innocent
Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of America’s most enduring voices for racial justice and economic equality, has died at the age of 84.
His family announced his passing on Tuesday, describing him as a “servant leader” whose lifelong commitment to justice, equality and love uplifted millions across the United States and beyond.
“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 in a statement.
“We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family.”
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For more than six decades, Jackson stood at the centre of America’s civil rights struggle from the turbulent 1960s to the election of the country’s first Black president.
Born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, he grew up in poverty in the segregated American South.
He later adopted his stepfather’s surname, Charles Jackson. His rise from hardship to national prominence would become central to his political identity.
“I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had a shovel programmed for my hands,” he once said.
Jackson rose to prominence as a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and was present in Memphis in 1968 when King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. That moment marked a turning point in his life, deepening his resolve to continue the struggle for civil rights.
