IL SR0618

Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., passed away on February 17, 2026 at age 84

Born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1941, he began activism at age 18 when arrested for protesting segregation at a public library in 1960

Marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, ran SCLC operations in Chicago by 1967, and was present when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968

Negotiated release of hostages and prisoners in Syria (1983), Cuba (1984), Iraq (1990), and Kosovo (1999), and ran for president in 1984 and 1988

Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000 from President Clinton; the Illinois Senate extends condolences to his family