ICON OF HOPE

Preacher-politician who rallied a nation and gave millions a voice dies at 84

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JESSE Jackson - the street-marching, pulpit-pounding preacher - electrified a nation with his call for a defiant "rainbow coalition" of America's poor and excluded.

After being born in the slums of South Carolina and covered in the blood of Martin Luther King Jr as he lay dying, the red-hot reverend and political campaigner became a voice to tens of millions of disadvantaged American people.

Following his death yesterday at 84, the world is mourning the loss of a civil rights icon.

Jackson fought to the bitter end, opposing the rise of the far-right at every turn, speaking out as they became more emboldened and "re-energised by the Trump demagoguery".

In doing so, he rose to become the most prominent Black leader in the US in the years between the struggle led by the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the ascent of Barack Obama.

His family announced that he died peacefully yesterday. Jackson had been hospitalised in recent months, suffered from Parkinson's and was under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative condition.

A statement announcing his death read: "His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity. A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless."

Peacemaker and provocateur, he moved between the pulpit and protest line, the corporate boardroom and the street march. Admirers saw moral urgency. Critics saw opportunism.

What is beyond dispute is that he reshaped the possibilities of American democracy.

INJUSTICE

Jackson was at King's side when the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis in 1968 and emerged as one of the most visible heirs to King's movement.

He mounted two campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988, laying the groundwork for progressive leaders like Obama and Bernie Sanders.