Jesse Jackson, U.S. civil rights activist, dead at 84

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U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent 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 age 84, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
Jackson’s family issued a statement Tuesday morning
Thomson Reuters · Posted: Feb 17, 2026 4:58 AM EST | Last Updated: 32 minutes ago
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson listens to speakers at the Tabernacle Baptist Church during the 60th anniversary of the march to ensure that African Americans could exercise their constitutional right to vote, Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Selma, Ala. (Mike Stewart/The Associated Press)
U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent 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 age 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.
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