Jesse Jackson

Also known as Jesse Jackson, Sr., Reverend Jackson, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jesse Louis Jackson Sr.

Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and an ardent advocate and early supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow United States senator for the District of Columbia.

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Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. was an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician who became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. He also served as a shadow senator for Washington, D.C., and was an early and ardent advocate for LGBTQ rights in the United States.

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Person · Open Library

Born: 1941
Works: 31

Top works

We the Resistance
The Theodore H. White Lecture with Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
Overcoming violence
FBI file on Rev. Jesse Jackson
Legal lynching

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Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Country: US
Active from: 1958-08-29
Active to: 2009-06-25

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Wikidata facts

Image: Jesse Jackson For President Crop.jpg

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Commons category: Jesse Jackson
date of birth: 1941-10-08
social media followers: 187203
name in native language: Jesse Jackson
birth name: Jesse Louis Burns
date of death: 2026-02-17

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Article

Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. (né Burns; October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026) was an American civil rights activist, LGBTQ rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and an ardent advocate and early supporter of LGBTQ rights in the United States. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow United States senator for the District of Columbia.

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson began his activism in the 1960s and founded the organizations that later merged to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Expanding his work into international affairs in the 1980s, he became a vocal critic of the Reagan administration and launched a presidential campaign in 1984. Initially viewed as a fringe candidate, he finished third for the Democratic nomination behind former vice president Walter Mondale and Senator Gary Hart. He continued his activism and mounted a second presidential bid in 1988, finishing as the runner‑up for the Democratic nomination to Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.