Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
This is performative politics again.
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Obituary
/ February 18, 2026
Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
We would be wise to follow the path he forged.
Robert L. Borosage
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Jesse Jackson marching with striking San Francisco hotel workers in 2004.
(David Bacon)
“Jesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years,” declared Senator Bernie Sanders, summarizing the importance of Jackson’s remarkable life and his historic 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns.
His historic journey began in the humblest of circumstances. He was born the son of a single, teenage mother in Greenville, South Carolina, deep in the Jim Crow segregated South. He rose to be in the public eye for over six decades, a globally recognized warrior for justice. He became the youngest of Dr. Martin Luther King’s SCLC leadership group, organizing Operation Breadbasket that mobilized African Americans to apply economic pressure on corporations to open their jobs, contracts and boards to minorities. After King’s tragic assassination, he rapidly rose to be a leading voice of the civil rights movement as the head of PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, that he founded in Chicago.
Directly challenging the right-wing reaction that brought Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns electrified the country, registering millions of voters, fulfilling the promise of the Voting Rights Act, Dr. King’s crowning achievement. In 1984, he registered 2 million new voters and inspired millions more to get involved, contributing directly to Democrats taking back the Senate in 1986. In 1988, Jackson garnered over 7 million votes (more than Walter Mondale had won in winning the 1984 nomination). In 54 primary contests, he came in first or second in 46 winning 13. His orations at the 1984 and 1988 conventions rank among the greatest political speeches in our history.
Others followed through the doors that Jackson’s campaigns kicked open: the first African American Mayors of New York City, Seattle, and Durham, the first African American Governor of Virginia. The 1988 campaign’s Minnesota co-chair Paul Wellstone and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders were elected to the US Senate as well as the first African American woman in the US Senate, Carol Mosely Braun. Minority members of the US House of Representatives doubled in size between 1990 and 1992. Barack Obama acknowledged that Jackson’s campaigns awakened him to what was possible.
Jackson’s campaigns also forced rules changes on the Democratic Party to make it, well, more democratic – …
This is performative politics again.
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Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
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Current Issue
Activism
/
Obituary
/ February 18, 2026
Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
We would be wise to follow the path he forged.
Robert L. Borosage
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Jesse Jackson marching with striking San Francisco hotel workers in 2004.
(David Bacon)
“Jesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years,” declared Senator Bernie Sanders, summarizing the importance of Jackson’s remarkable life and his historic 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns.
His historic journey began in the humblest of circumstances. He was born the son of a single, teenage mother in Greenville, South Carolina, deep in the Jim Crow segregated South. He rose to be in the public eye for over six decades, a globally recognized warrior for justice. He became the youngest of Dr. Martin Luther King’s SCLC leadership group, organizing Operation Breadbasket that mobilized African Americans to apply economic pressure on corporations to open their jobs, contracts and boards to minorities. After King’s tragic assassination, he rapidly rose to be a leading voice of the civil rights movement as the head of PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, that he founded in Chicago.
Directly challenging the right-wing reaction that brought Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns electrified the country, registering millions of voters, fulfilling the promise of the Voting Rights Act, Dr. King’s crowning achievement. In 1984, he registered 2 million new voters and inspired millions more to get involved, contributing directly to Democrats taking back the Senate in 1986. In 1988, Jackson garnered over 7 million votes (more than Walter Mondale had won in winning the 1984 nomination). In 54 primary contests, he came in first or second in 46 winning 13. His orations at the 1984 and 1988 conventions rank among the greatest political speeches in our history.
Others followed through the doors that Jackson’s campaigns kicked open: the first African American Mayors of New York City, Seattle, and Durham, the first African American Governor of Virginia. The 1988 campaign’s Minnesota co-chair Paul Wellstone and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders were elected to the US Senate as well as the first African American woman in the US Senate, Carol Mosely Braun. Minority members of the US House of Representatives doubled in size between 1990 and 1992. Barack Obama acknowledged that Jackson’s campaigns awakened him to what was possible.
Jackson’s campaigns also forced rules changes on the Democratic Party to make it, well, more democratic – …
Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
This is performative politics again.
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Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
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Politics
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Culture
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Current Issue
Activism
/
Obituary
/ February 18, 2026
Jesse Jackson’s Remarkable Life Was a Model for All of Us
We would be wise to follow the path he forged.
Robert L. Borosage
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Jesse Jackson marching with striking San Francisco hotel workers in 2004.
(David Bacon)
“Jesse Jackson is one of the very most significant political leaders in this country in the last 100 years,” declared Senator Bernie Sanders, summarizing the importance of Jackson’s remarkable life and his historic 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns.
His historic journey began in the humblest of circumstances. He was born the son of a single, teenage mother in Greenville, South Carolina, deep in the Jim Crow segregated South. He rose to be in the public eye for over six decades, a globally recognized warrior for justice. He became the youngest of Dr. Martin Luther King’s SCLC leadership group, organizing Operation Breadbasket that mobilized African Americans to apply economic pressure on corporations to open their jobs, contracts and boards to minorities. After King’s tragic assassination, he rapidly rose to be a leading voice of the civil rights movement as the head of PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, that he founded in Chicago.
Directly challenging the right-wing reaction that brought Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns electrified the country, registering millions of voters, fulfilling the promise of the Voting Rights Act, Dr. King’s crowning achievement. In 1984, he registered 2 million new voters and inspired millions more to get involved, contributing directly to Democrats taking back the Senate in 1986. In 1988, Jackson garnered over 7 million votes (more than Walter Mondale had won in winning the 1984 nomination). In 54 primary contests, he came in first or second in 46 winning 13. His orations at the 1984 and 1988 conventions rank among the greatest political speeches in our history.
Others followed through the doors that Jackson’s campaigns kicked open: the first African American Mayors of New York City, Seattle, and Durham, the first African American Governor of Virginia. The 1988 campaign’s Minnesota co-chair Paul Wellstone and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders were elected to the US Senate as well as the first African American woman in the US Senate, Carol Mosely Braun. Minority members of the US House of Representatives doubled in size between 1990 and 1992. Barack Obama acknowledged that Jackson’s campaigns awakened him to what was possible.
Jackson’s campaigns also forced rules changes on the Democratic Party to make it, well, more democratic – …
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