Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson passes away at 84: Here's what we know

Jesse Jackson, the icon of the civil rights movement in America, has died at age 85.

Jackson’s family shared the news on Tuesday, February 17, in a statement on social media.

The family didn’t state the cause of his death but said he died peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

“We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.”

In a 2017 interview, Jackson disclosed his health battles. He revealed that he had been fighting with Parkinson’s disease and received treatment for the illness as an outpatient in Chicago.

He continued the treatment for two at Northwestern Medicine before making his diagnosis public.

He got hospitalized for Covid-19 in August 2021 and two months later again following a fall in which he struck his head while supporting Howard University students protesting over poor living conditions.

Who was Jesse Jackson?

Jesse was born in 1941 in the Jim Crow South and is seen as becoming one of the most influential political figures of the late twentieth century.

Jackson escalated the ladders as he was a close follower of Martin Luther King Jr. In the formative days of the civil rights movement in America.

Jackson had contested the U.S. presidential elections twice as a Democratic nominee, first in 1984 and then in 1988.

Jackson is survived by six children and his wife, Jacqueline Brown.