Jesse Jackson, a key figure during the US civil rights movement of the 1960s, was known for being the first African-American to make the jump from activism to major-party presidential politics.
A protege of Martin Luther King Jr, 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.
While other African Americans sought the US presidency, Jackson was the first to find significant success at the ballot box – which would pave the way for those who came after, including Barack Obama and Kamala Harris.
Over the course of his career, Jackson built a movement to bring America's increasingly diverse population together, with a message that centred on poor and working-class Americans.
"No one else in the Democratic Party was talking about a multiracial, multi-ethnic democracy," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said at an event in Chicago in August 2024 that celebrated Jackson. "This movement wasn't just about bringing us together, but about bringing us together around a progressive agenda."
