Jesse Jackson
American Baptist minister, activist, civil rights leader, politician, and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. (born October 8, 1941) is an American church minister, activist and politician.[1] Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns, in Greenville, South Carolina.[2] His mother, Helen Burns, was 16 years old at the time he was born.[2] She never married his father, Noah Louis Robinson.[2] When Jackson was two, his mother married Charles Jackson. Jesse was raised by his grandmother Matilda until he was 13. In 1957, he returned home when his step-father adopted him.[2]
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Early life and civil rights
After he graduated from high school, Jackson had an offer to play professional baseball from the Chicago White Sox.[3] He also received a scholarship to play college football at the University of Illinois, which he accepted.[3] He later transferred to North Carolina A&T.[3] He was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s main organizers in Chicago for the Southern Christian Leadership Conferences. After King was shot, Jackson formed several civil rights organizations of his own. Two of these were Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition. Jackson was also active in civil rights movements outside the United States. He also served as a Baptist minister.
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Presidential runs
In May 1983, Jackson became the first African-American man since Reconstruction to address a joint session of the Alabama Legislature, where he said it was "about time we forgot about black and white and started talking about employed and unemployed".[4] Art Harris saw Jackson as "testing the waters for a black presidential candidacy down South".[4] Jackson's address to the National Congress of American Indians and touring of southern Texas to test his appeal among Hispanics made people think that he would run for president.[5]
Jackson ran for President in 1984 and 1988, coming in second in the 1988 Democratic party. Both times, he ran on a very liberal platform that wanted people of all races to co-operate, as well as more emphasis on education, urban issues and infrastructure. He wanted to be chosen as the Democrat's Vice-Presidential nominee, but Lloyd Bentsen was chosen instead. From 1991 to 1997, he was a shadow senator from the District of Columbia.[6] People thought Jackson might run against Bill Clinton in the 1996 primaries, but he did not.
In 2016, during the 2016 United States presidential election he endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.[7] In 2020, during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he endorsed Bernie Sanders to be the democratic nominee.[8]
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Controversy
He is known for saying some things that are controversial. In 1984, in an interview with Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman, he referred to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown".[9] He also said that Barack Obama was "acting like he's white"[10] and "talking down to black people."[11]
Personal life
Jackson's eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., is a former congressman from Illinois. His other son, Jonathan Jackson, is a congressman from Illinois as well.
Health
In November 2017, Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.[12]
In August 2021, Jackson and his wife were hospitalized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, with COVID-19.[13]
In November 2025, Jackson was hospitalized in Chicago for cardiopulmonary problems and for progressive supranuclear palsy, which he was diagnosed with in April 2025.[14][15]
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References
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