American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Jesse Jackson, who grew up in the southern US during segregation and later became an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., died today at the age of 84, his family said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
"Our father led communities. "He was not only the head of our family, but also a leader for the oppressed, the voiceless and the disenfranchised around the world," Jackson's family said.
Jackson, an inspirational speaker and longtime resident of Chicago, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2017.
Jackson had been an advocate for the rights of African Americans and other marginalized communities since the 1960s civil rights movement led by his mentor Martin Luther King, Jr., an unwavering social activist and Baptist minister.
Jackson became a close associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. and sometimes traveled with him. On the day King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Jackson was just one floor below him. He infuriated other King aides by claiming to reporters that he had held the dying King in his arms and that he was the last person King spoke to.
Jackson overcame a series of scandals but remained a prominent civil rights advocate for decades.
He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, winning many votes from African-American and liberal white voters by running convincing campaigns. However, he ultimately failed to win the nomination and never officially held public office.
Until his fellow countryman Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, no other African-American candidate had come so close to winning the nomination from either of the two major parties.
In 1984, Jackson received 3.3 million votes in his support for the Democratic presidential nomination, placing third behind nominees Walter Mondale and Gary Hart in their race against then-Republican President Ronald Reagan.
In 1988, Jackson was a more moderate and popular candidate, placing second in the Democratic primary to Republican President George H.W. Bush. That year, Jackson ran a close race with Michael Dukakis, who ultimately became the Democratic nominee. Jackson won 11 state primaries and caucuses, some in the South, and garnered 6.8 million votes in the nominating primaries.
Jackson played a major role in securing the release of Americans held captive in Syria, Cuba, Iraq, and Serbia in 1984, 1990, and 1999, respectively.
The civil liberties activist founded the Chicago-based civil rights organization "Operation PUSH" and the National Rainbow Coalition. Jackson was also appointed as President Bill Clinton's special envoy to Africa in the 1990s.