Jesse Jackson: World reacts to death of civil rights activist

Tributes to the Rev. Jesse Jackson poured in as news of his death was announced on Tuesday.

The New York Times called Jackson, who died at the age of 84, “America’s most influential Black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama.”

Because of Jackson’s high profile, he was portrayed several times in film and television, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Nigel Gibbs played Jackson in the television series “Monster” in 2022, and Elden Henson had the role in the 1999 film “She’s All That.”

Eddie Murphy parodied Jackson on “Saturday Night Live” in 1984, and the civil rights leader hosted the show on Oct. 20, 1984. Jackson also appeared as himself in a 1989 episode of “A Different World.”

Bernice King, the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr., posted a photo of her father with a young Jackson on social media.

“Both now ancestors,” she wrote.

“His longevity is part of the story,” said Rashad Robinson, the former president of the online justice organization Color of Change. “This is someone who had so many chances to do something else. And this is what chose to do with his life.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Jackson “a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world.”

“He kept the dream alive and taught young children from broken homes, like me, that we don’t have broken spirits,” Sharpton wrote on Facebook. “A giant has gone home.

“He carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice. One of the greatest honors of my life was learning at his side,” Sharpton continued. “He reminded me that faith without action is just noise. He taught me that protest must have purpose, that faith must have feet, and that justice is not seasonal, it is daily work.”

Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, said that Jackson was a “moral voice” for people who held power.

“He made you better by making you dig deeper inside yourself as you were dealing with some very complicated issues,” Emanuel told CNN. “He had a moral standing that challenged you when you’re doing day-to-day politics.”

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called Jackson a “giant of the civil rights movement who never stopped demanding that America live up to its promise.”

Ben Murray-Bruce, a Nigerian businessman and former politician, called Jackson “a dear friend and a truly great man.”

“I was one of his biggest admirers, and I will deeply miss him,” Murray-Bruce wrote. “I am saddened that we have lost such an extraordinary icon — one with direct links to Martin Luther King Jr. I consider it a great honour to have known him and to have called him my friend."

The Rev. James Martin, an author and Jesuit priest, wrote on X that Jackson “stood for and with justice.”

“May you be united with Jesus Christ forever,” he wrote.

Jackson ran for president twice, in 1984 and 1988. In 1984 he collected more than 3 million votes during the primaries and finished third among the eight candidates, The Washington Post reported.

“When they write the history of this (primary campaign), the longest chapter will be on Jackson,” New York Gov. Mario Cuomo told the newspaper at the time. “The man didn’t have two cents. He didn’t have one television or radio ad. And look what he did.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) called Jackson a champion of ”racial justice.”

“America has lost one of its great moral voices,” Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, said in a statement. “As a kid growing up in public housing while watching him run for President, Rev. Jesse Jackson gave me a glimpse of what is possible and taught me to say, ‘I am somebody!’ As an adult, I was proud to call him a friend.”

© 2025 Cox Media Group