Rev. Jesse Jackson, the veteran civil rights activist and two-time US presidential candidate, has died at the age of 84, his family confirmed.
In a statement, his kin said he died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
“Our father was a servant leader not only to our family but to the oppressed, the voiceless and the overlooked around the world. We ask you to honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived for,” the statement read.
Before his presidential bids, Jackson worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and later founded Operation PUSH, an organisation aimed at expanding economic opportunities for Black Americans and other minorities.
He rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a close aide to King. Following King’s assassination in 1968, Jackson emerged as one of the most influential civil rights leaders in the United States, though some of King’s aides criticised his assertive style.
In 1984, Jackson won 3.3 million votes in the Democratic presidential primaries, about 18 per cent of ballots cast, finishing third behind Walter Mondale and Gary Hart in the race to challenge Republican incumbent Ronald Reagan.
Four years later, he mounted a stronger bid, finishing second in the Democratic race to face George H. W. Bush. Jackson won 11 state primaries and caucuses, including several in the
South, and secured 6.8 million votes, about 29 per cent of the total. He ultimately lost the nomination to Michael Dukakis.
In 2013, following Kenya’s tense March 4 General Election, Jackson travelled to the country where he met former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and then President Uhuru Kenyatta, urging dialogue and peace.