Online Reporter
US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister raised in the segregated South who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at the age of 84, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said.
Jackson, an inspirational orator and long-time Chicagoan, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017.
The media-savvy Jackson advocated for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalised communities dating back to the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1960s, spearheaded by his mentor King, a Baptist minister and towering social activist.
He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, attracting black voters and many white liberals in mounting unexpectedly strong campaigns.
However, Jackson still fell short of becoming the first black major party White House nominee. Ultimately, he never held elective office. – reuters.com
