Jess L. Jackson

Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. was a pioneering civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., founded Operation PUSH in 1971 and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and ran for U.S. president in 1984 and 1988. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, he became a national spokesman for African Americans, advocated for economic empowerment and social justice, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. He passed away on February 17, 2026, at age 84 after a battle with Parkinson's disease.