The entire nation is in mourning with the loss of a civil rights icon. A protégé of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and an HBCU Hall of Famer passed away after years of fighting an incurable illness. Voices from every corner of the country mourn and honor his legacy, which continues to shape generations.
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., a HBCU graduate from North Carolina A&T who led the modern civil rights movement, passed away on February 17, 2021, at the age of 84. Jackson’s health was in decline after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which was later found to be progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). He was hospitalized in November 2025 for observation of the condition, which he had been diagnosed last year.
Before his public life, Jackson attended Illinois through a football scholarship but transferred to North Carolina A&T State University. He played for the Aggies football team as a signal caller from 1962 to 1964 and helped the program win the CIAA Championship in 1964. He was also honored as an Athletics Hall of Famer by North Carolina A&T. Beyond his playing career, he was a student leader who honed his organizing skills and developed a commanding voice, which would define his later life.
After finishing his collegiate career and theological training, Jackson served as a close associate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through the civil rights movement. After King’s assassination, he stepped into a larger leadership role. He led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and beyond the borders and raised his voice for the poor and underprivileged, advocating for equal rights and opportunities.
Prayers up for the family, loved ones and everyone impacted by Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson who passed away at 84. That would be all of us. He taught us to keep hope alive. He taught you that no matter where you come from or what you look like that “I am somebody.” RIP pic.twitter.com/P8EnGnHFN8
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 17, 2026
He channeled cries of Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, demanding an equitable society through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition. The rebellion life turned him into a national figure and one of America’s best-known civil rights activists, who earned two-time Democratic presidential candidate status.
“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 in a statement posted online. “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family.”
Even during his ill health condition in his final years, Jackson protested against racist injustice in the Black Lives Matter movement and also raised his voice to stop the Israel-Hamas war in 2024. Overcoming the loss of such a big influential leader, who impacted millions of people, could be hard. However, his legacy shapes generations.
President Trump credits Jesse Jackson Sr. for HBCU raise
President Donald Trump on Tuesday wrote a long passage paying his tribute to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. through a post on Truth.
“He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,'” Mr. Trump wrote. “He was very gregarious—someone who truly loved people! Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.”
Trump credited Jackson’s contribution in raising funds for the HBCU colleges and changing Black people’s lives.
“Single-handedly pushed and passed long-term funding for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved, but also, which other Presidents would not do,” Trump wrote. “Responded to Jesse’s support for Opportunity Zones, the single most successful economic development package yet approved for Black businessmen/women, and much more. Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him.”
President Trump and Jackson’s relationship dates back decades, and they’ve been publicly spotted a number of times in the late 1990s, and photos of them in the Wall Street Project are evident.