A flood of tributes poured in for the Rev. Jesse Jackson after his family announced the death of the civil rights icon Tuesday.
Activists, public figures and many of the country's most prominent politicians, including President Donald Trump, took to social media Tuesday morning to commemorate Jackson, 84, the civil rights pioneer, Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate.
His family said Jackson died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones. His cause of death was not immediately given, but he had been living with illness — including Parkinson's — for several years.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader, said in a post on X that Jackson was his “mentor.” He said in a separate statement that “our nation lost one of its greatest moral voices” who “carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice.”
“Reverend Jackson stood wherever dignity was under attack, from apartheid abroad to injustice at home. His voice echoed in boardrooms and in jail cells. His presence shifted rooms. His faith never wavered,” Sharpton said.
Bernice King, one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughters, said in a post on X that Jackson was "a gifted negotiator and a courageous bridge‑builder, serving humanity by bringing calm into tense rooms and creating pathways where none existed."
"Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. devoted his life to lifting people in poverty, the marginalized, and those pushed to society’s edges," she said. "Through Operation PUSH, he pushed barriers and opened doors so Black people and other excluded communities could step into opportunity and dignity."
"With the Rainbow Coalition, he cast a bold vision of an inclusive society—uniting people across race, class, and faith to build power together and expand the table of economic opportunity," she added.
Operation PUSH was a nonprofit with roots to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, aimed at empowering Black people. Jackson also founded the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, a nonprofit with similar goals, before merging the two organizations in 1996 to form Rainbow/PUSH.
Trump also weighed in Jackson's passing, saying he was "a force of nature like few others before him." Trump also said he provided office space for the Rainbow Coalition in Manhattan's financial district, "responded to his request for criminal justice reform" and passed long-term funding for historically Black colleges and universities.
"Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way," Trump wrote.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden also issued statements on Jackson's passing on X.
"Reverend Jackson believed in his bones the promise of America: that we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives," Biden wrote. "While we’ve never fully lived up to that promise, he dedicated his life to ensuring we never fully walked away from it either."
Former Vice President Kamala Harris issued a lengthy statement on X, calling Jackson "one of America’s greatest patriots," "a selfless leader, mentor, and friend."
Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee for president, said that she had a "Jesse Jackson for President" bumper sticker on her car when she was a law student.
"As I would drive across the Bay Bridge, you would not believe how people from every walk of life would give me a thumbs up or honk of support," she said. "They were small interactions, but they exemplified Reverend Jackson’s life work — lifting up the dignity of working people, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and nation."
She added that Jackson's "presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 electrified millions of Americans and showed them what could be possible."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black person to lead a major political party in either house of Congress, called Jackson "a legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire."
"For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all," Jeffries said on X. "We are thankful for the incredible service of Rev. Jesse Jackson to the nation and his profound sacrifice as the people’s champion. May he forever rest in power."
Rep. Bennie G Thompson, D-Miss., one of the most prominent Black politicians in Congress, called for prayers for Jackson's family.
"Rev. Jesse Jackson inspired many of us to not be afraid to try to change things. His rhetoric and direct action made him a powerful force to be reckoned with," he said in a post on X.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city's first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, called Jackson "a giant of the civil rights movement who never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise."
"He marched, he ran, he organized and he preached justice without apology," he said in a post on X. "May we honor him not just in words, but in struggle."
The NAACP said in a statement that "Rev. Jackson’s passing marks the loss of a towering moral voice, but the movement he helped build will carry his light forward."
"His legacy calls each of us to stay committed, stay organized, and remain faithful to the pursuit of justice," the group said.
