Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and civil rights leader who twice sought to be the Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. president, died Tuesday, his family announced. He was 84.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition shared the announcement of Jackson's death, saying he was surrounded by family as he "died peacefully" on Tuesday morning, but did not state a cause of death.
"Our father was a servant leader -- not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless and the overlooked around the world," the Jackson family said in a statement. "We shared him with the world and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality and love uplifted millions and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by."
Jackson had recently been hospitalized because of a rare neurodegenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy. He was diagnosed in 2017 with Parkinson's disease, but doctors later determined he was suffering from the more rare condition.
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