US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies aged 84

Jesse Jackson was active in the civil rights movement, including participating in the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama. Photo: Steve Kagan/Getty Image

Jesse Jackson, the US civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, has died at the age of 84, his family has announced.

A Baptist minister and longtime activist, Jackson rose to prominence during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, working closely with Martin Luther King Jr and taking part in major campaigns including the Selma to Montgomery marches.

Martin Luther King Jr, centre, with Jesse Jackson, left, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3 1968. Photo: AP

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1941, Jackson became a key figure in the fight against racial segregation and inequality. King later appointed him to roles within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where he led initiatives aimed at improving economic opportunities for Black communities.

Jackson founded Operation PUSH in 1971 and later launched the Rainbow Coalition, organisations focused on voting rights, social justice and economic empowerment. The groups merged in 1996 into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which he led for decades.

Jackson being arrested in March 1993 after protesting the Clinton administration’s policy of maintaining a detention camp for Haitian political refugees who were HIV positive © Tim Clary/AFP/Getty Images

He twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988, becoming one of the first Black candidates to mount a serious bid for a major party nomination. Although unsuccessful, his campaigns expanded minority political participation and reshaped US political discourse.

Jackson with Senator Barack Obama after a Congressional Black Caucus ceremony at the Library of Congress in 2004. Photo: Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images

Jackson remained an influential voice in American politics for decades, advising Democratic leaders and advocating civil rights and social justice causes worldwide. In 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, and their children.

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