Tributes are flowing for the charismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, after news broke that he has died at age 84.
“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 in a statement late last night.
Jackson advocated for the rights of black Americans and other marginalised communities since 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, and came second in the race for the nomination in 1988, winning seven million votes in the primaries.
Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017.
Tributes to the eloquent orator and long-time Chicagoan are flowing on social media, including from former US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden.
