Civil rights leader dies

THE Rev Jesse L Jackson, a protege of Martin Luther King Jr and a two-time US presidential candidate who led the civil rights movement for decades after Dr King’s assassination, has died aged 84.

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Rev Jackson died on Tuesday at home and surrounded by family, his daughter, Santita Jackson, said.

As a young organiser in Chicago, Rev Jackson was called to meet Dr King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before Dr King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as Dr King’s successor.

Rev Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care.