South Carolina-born sociologist and clergyman Jesse Jackson became a well-known figure during the 1960s civil rights movement. He participated in the 1965 Selma-Montgomery march for Black voting rights, along with civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson was also at the hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was shot and killed in 1968.
In 2019, during a visit to Sweden, he told TT that the civil rights movement is "very much alive," but now encompasses more issues and more minorities.
"Now we must learn to live together. Migration pressure is great on European countries, but immigration is not a zero-sum game; it is possible to make room for those in need," he told Swedes.
Has borne fruit
Jesse Jackson has likened King's vision of democratic inclusion of all - regardless of gender or background - to a seed that has borne fruit in many American elections.
"Women, Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people ran, and many won. They are all part of our movement," he said of the 2018 congressional elections.
"Fifty years ago we marched; today the right to vote is our main weapon."
Jackson founded the civil rights movement Rainbow Push Coalition in 1971. He tried to become the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984 and 1988, but was forced to withdraw. He nevertheless remained active politically, both as a representative for the District of Columbia and as the presidential envoy for democracy in Africa.
In tears of joy
And Jackson was highly active in fellow Democrat Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Despite some disagreements - "at one point I thought he could have acted more aggressively against racial injustice" - Jackson has described Obama's presidency as "magnificent."
The pictures of his tears of joy during the 2008 election vigil are widely known.
In recent years, Jackson also became something of a media figure.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2017. In early 2021, he underwent gallbladder surgery and later that year was treated for COVID-19.
