Jesse Jackson
Sign in to saveJesse Louis Jackson Sr. was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and an ardent advocate and early supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow United States senator for the District of Columbia.
AI overview
Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. was an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician who became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. He also served as a shadow senator for Washington, D.C., and was an early and ardent advocate for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1941
- Died
- 2026-02-17
- Works
- 31
Top works
- We the Resistance
- The Theodore H. White Lecture with Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
- Overcoming violence
- FBI file on Rev. Jesse Jackson
- Legal lynching
via Open Library + Wikidata
Wikipedia views (30d)
68,740 totalvia Wikimedia Pageviews API
Key dates
Article
Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (né Burns; October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026) was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and an ardent advocate and early supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow United States senator for the District of Columbia.
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson began his activism in the 1960s and founded the organizations that later merged to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Expanding his work into international affairs in the 1980s, he became a vocal critic of the Reagan administration and launched a presidential campaign in 1984. Initially viewed as a fringe candidate, he finished third for the Democratic nomination behind former vice president Walter Mondale and Senator Gary Hart. He continued his activism and mounted a second presidential bid in 1988, finishing as the runner‑up for the Democratic nomination to Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.
Gallery (13)
Connections
Categories
1941 births2026 deaths20th-century African-American politicians20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States20th-century Washington, D.C., politicians21st-century Baptist ministers from the United StatesActivists for African-American civil rightsActivists from ChicagoAfrican-American activistsAfrican-American Baptist ministersAfrican-American candidates for President of the United States