Black Greekdom Mourns The Passing of Omega Psi Phi’s Rev. Jesse Jackson

Black Greekdom is mourning the loss of a giant.

The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., civil rights icon, global advocate for justice, and proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., died early Tuesday morning at the age of 84, his family announced in a statement. Jackson had been battling the rare neurodegenerative disorder Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).

In their official statement, the Jackson family shared that he passed peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped American politics, civil rights, and global human rights advocacy.

Rev. Jackson was more than a public figure. He was a movement.

Jackson rose to national prominence during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. As a young activist, he and seven others, later known as the Greenville Eight, attempted to desegregate a public library in Greenville, South Carolina, challenging Jim Crow policies in the South.

He would go on to become widely regarded as a protégé of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., working closely with King through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Jackson played a key role in spearheading Operation Breadbasket, an economic justice initiative focused on improving employment and business opportunities for Black communities, first in Chicago and later nationwide.

Jackson marched alongside King in the historic Selma to Montgomery voting rights march in 1965. He would later describe his years working with King as “a phenomenal four years of work.” He was also present in Memphis in 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated, a moment that forever altered the course of the movement and the nation.

Following King’s assassination, Jackson continued the work of organizing and institution building. He founded Operation PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, which later merged with the National Rainbow Coalition in the mid-1990s to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an organization that would become one of the most visible and influential social justice groups in the country.

Through Rainbow PUSH, Jackson championed voting rights, economic empowerment, corporate accountability, and international human rights causes for decades.

Rev. Jackson made history with his groundbreaking presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. Running in the Democratic primaries, he expanded the political imagination of what was possible for Black candidates in national politics.

In 1984, he ran against former Vice President Walter Mondale. In 1988, he mounted an even stronger campaign, ultimately losing the nomination to then Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, but not before winning nearly 7 million primary votes and reshaping the Democratic Party’s coalition.

His campaigns mobilized millions of new voters and laid critical groundwork for future generations of Black political leadership.

In 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, recognizing a lifetime of advocacy and service.

His commitment to scholarship matched his commitment to service. Jackson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from North Carolina A&T State University in 1964 after transferring from the University of Illinois. He later attended Chicago Theological Seminary and received a Master of Divinity degree in 2000, further grounding his public ministry in formal theological training.

For Black Greekdom, Rev. Jackson’s legacy also includes his deep fraternity roots.

He was initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. as a Spring 1960 initiate of the Pi Psi Chapter at North Carolina A&T State University. Throughout his life, he represented the power of Omega men to lead on campus, in community, and on the world stage.

In a statement released by the family, they described him as a servant leader, not only to his family, but to “the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world.”

Public observances are expected to be held in Chicago, with additional details to be released by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.