US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson dies at 84, leaving legacy of political firsts
South China Morning Post
by Reuters,Agence France-PresseFebruary 17, 2026
Charismatic US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, an eloquent Baptist minister raised in the segregated South who became a close associate of Martin Luther King Jnr and twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, has died at 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.
Jackson, an inspirational orator and long-time Chicagoan,...
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Originally published on South China Morning Post on 2/17/2026