US civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84.
A statement by his family describes Jackson as a servant leader.
“Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked,” they say
In the 1960s, Jackson fought for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King Jr, whose daughter remembers Jackson as a “gifted negotiator”
US President, Donald Trump also paid tribute, calling Jackson a “force of nature” with “lots of personality, grit and street smarts”
In her condolence message, former vice-president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris described Jackson as “one of America’s greatest patriots”
BBC’s Anthony Zurcher wrote said about him, “A protege of King’s, Jackson built a career around working to politically organise and improve the lives of African-Americans, and became a national force during his two White House campaigns.
Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017 and was hospitalized for observation last November after being diagnosed with a degenerative condition.
