Jesse Jackson, a leading African American voice on global stage, dies at 84

"The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a charismatic preacher who became the leading voice of Black American aspirations in the years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was the first African American to gain significant traction as a presidential candidate, died Tuesday. He was 84. A statement from his family did not provide cause of death.. Rev. Jackson had initially been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015. Years later, he learned he had progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurological disorder that affects movement."

"At the height of his influence, Rev. Jackson was widely regarded as the nation's preeminent civil rights leader, a ubiquitous presence before the television cameras. He showed up at protests and marches across the country to champion civil rights and social justice. And when civil disorder broke out - as it did after King's assassination in 1968 and, decades later, after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 - he urged restraint and nonviolence."

Reverend Jesse Jackson died at 84 after a long career as a civil rights leader and political trailblazer. He received an initial diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in 2015 and later learned he had progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurological disorder that affects movement. He rose to prominence after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and became a leading voice for Black American aspirations and a major African American presidential contender. He championed civil rights, social justice, and nonviolence at protests and during instances of civil disorder. He expanded his work into international peacemaking, prisoner-release efforts, and opposition to apartheid, and he was known for electrifying oratory rooted in Black Southern church traditions.

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