Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson is an American Baptist minister, politician, and civil rights activist who campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.

Connect

Martin Luther King Jr.: Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who advocated nonviolent resistance to racial segregation. Jackson worked with King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was present at the Lorraine Motel when King was assassinated.
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition: The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition is a Chicago-based civil rights organization formed by Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition. It institutionalized Jackson’s organizing around racial justice, economic opportunity, and coalition politics.
Civil rights movement: The civil rights movement was a broad struggle to end racial segregation and secure equal rights for Black Americans, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. Jackson developed as an organizer within the movement’s campaigns against segregation and racial inequality.
Rainbow Coalition: The Rainbow Coalition was a political alliance advocating cooperation among people divided by race, class, and other social boundaries. Jackson made the coalition a central strategy of his presidential campaigns.
Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan was an American politician who served as president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Reagan’s presidency formed the conservative political backdrop against which Jackson’s campaigns advanced a progressive agenda.
Coretta Scott King: Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist who advanced her husband’s legacy and campaigned for racial and social justice. She and Jackson both became prominent national voices in the movement King helped lead.
1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries: The 1984 Democratic primaries selected the party’s nominee for the United States presidential election. Jackson’s first presidential campaign won delegates and brought issues of race and poverty into the nomination contest.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a civil rights organization founded in 1957 to coordinate nonviolent campaigns against segregation. Jackson became an organizer with the SCLC and worked under Martin Luther King Jr.
Black political power: Black political power is the capacity of Black communities to influence public decisions through voting, organizing, representation, and institutions. Jackson’s campaigns demonstrated how Black voters and multiracial alliances could affect national party politics.
Gary Hart: Gary Hart was an American politician who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Hart’s campaigns competed with Jackson’s within the same nomination contests but emphasized different constituencies and political styles.