About
Jesse Jackson, born Jesse Louis Burns on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, was a major figure in the American civil rights movement. He earned a degree in sociology from North Carolina A&T State University and was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968. A close aide to Martin Luther King Jr., he led Operation Breadbasket for the SCLC. In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH, and in 1984 the Rainbow Coalition, which merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Running for the Democratic nomination in 1984 and 1988, he was the first African American to win multiple primaries. He conducted diplomatic missions to free hostages and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. He died on February 17, 2026.
Key milestones
- 1966Appointed national director of Operation Breadbasket for the SCLC.
- 1971Founded Operation PUSH in Chicago.
- 1984First African American to win multiple Democratic presidential primaries.
Themes
Civil rightsEconomic justiceHumanitarian diplomacyAfrican American political particip
Sources: nmaahc.si.edu · nps.gov