DCNOW Mourns the Death of former D.C. Shadow Senator Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

By: Miriam Edelman

DCNOW mourns former D.C. Shadow Senator Jesse Jackson. On February 17, 2026, Jackson died in Chicago at age 84. The civil rights icon had battled progressive supranuclear palsy, a severe neurodegenerative condition. Upon Jackson’s death, The New York Times referred to Jackson as “the nation’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” although it noted that Jackson “never achieved either the commanding moral stature of Dr. King or the ultimate political triumph attained by Mr. Obama [Barack Obama].”

On February 17^th, the National Organization for Women’s President Kim Villaneueva issued a statement mourning Jackson. Parts of the statement were:

“He [Jackson] always stood with women who, as he so often said, ‘take the early bus’ to jobs where they are underpaid, undervalued, and too often subjected to discrimination or sexual harassment.  He was a lifelong advocate for equal pay and economic justice for women, and he worked to increase political participation for women, especially women of color.”

“When he sought the presidency in 1984, he said he wanted to ‘restore a moral tone, a redemptive spirit, and a sensitivity to the poor and the dispossessed of this nation.’”

“Rev. Jackson’s message and mission are especially relevant today, when we’re seeing a resurgence in the racism, sexism, and discrimination he worked so tirelessly to abolish.”

“NOW mourns the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a transformational leader whose indomitable spirit and unshakable moral voice continues to inspire us.  Generations to come will stand on Rev. Jackson’s strong shoulders.”

Early and Personal Life

Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, South Carolina on October 8, 1941. When he was one year old, Jackson’s mother married Charles Henry Jackson, who adopted Jackson in 1957. In the Jim Crow South, Jesse Jackson sat in the back of buses and was educated in segregated schools. In 1960, he led the Greenville Eight group in a “read-in” at Greenville’s segregated library. He was arrested for the first, but not the last, time for this action.

On December 31, 1962, Jackson married Jacqueline Lavina (Brown). They had five children: Jacqueline, Yusef, Jonathan, Jesse Jr. and Santita. He and Karin Stanford had Ashley. Jesse Jr. was a Representative of Illinois in the U.S. Congress, and Jonathan currently represents Illinois in the U.S. House of Representative.

In 1964, Jackson earned a BA from the Agricultural College of North Carolina, which is now the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He later attended and earned a Master of Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary. On June 30, 1968, Rev. Clay Evans ordained Jackson.

Professional Life

Jackson was a top deputy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King named Jackson to lead  Operation Breadbasket of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson and King participated in demonstrations together. In April 4, 1968, Jackson was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated. After King’s death, Jackson was a key leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

After leaving Operation Breadbasket in 1971, Jackson founded Operation PUSH, People United to Save Humanity. Based in Chicago, the new organization had broad goals, including making workforces more diverse and registering people to vote. PUSH was behind boycotts of corporations that harmed African-Americans. The acronym became People United to Serve Humanity.

In the 1980s, Jackson became the most successful African-American presidential candidate in American history (until Obama). In 1984 and 1988, Jackson ran for President as a Democrat, but he was not nominated either time. Decades after former Representative Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American Presidential candidate, Jackson in 1983 became the first African-American with a nationwide presidential campaign. After winning just one primary contest in 1984, he won 13 presidential primaries and caucuses in 1988. After winning the Michigan caucus in 1988, Jackson led the Democrats in terms of delegates. In 1988, Jackson earned almost seven million votes. After Jackson performed well in 1988, the Democratic Party changed its rules about percentage of votes in a state needed to earn delegates.

Jackson said:

“I was able to run for the presidency twice and redefine what was possible; it raised the lid for women and other people of color.”

“Part of my job was to sow seeds of the possibilities.”

According to Representative Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Jackson “sort of took off the table the idea that African Americans could never be elected to the White House.”

In 1986, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition. Ten years later, that organization and Operation PUSH became the Rainbow Push Coalition.

Jackson was active on D.C. statehood. In 1988, he was successful in lobbying the Democratic Party platform to call for D.C. statehood. The platform said “WE BELIEVE that this country's democratic processes must be revitalized:…by supporting statehood for the District of Columbia.” In the 1988 Democratic National Convention, he said that a new priority is “a commitment to D.C. statehood and empowerment — D.C. deserves statehood.”

A former National Rainbow Coalition employee, Bernard Demczuk said:

“As he went around the nation and the world promoting the National Rainbow Coalition, he was also talking about statehood.”

“Statehood was on the agenda wherever he went. He catapulted the issue to a higher level.”

In February 1990, Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer (D) said that D.C. could rejoin Maryland. If D.C. rejoined Maryland (retrocession), D.C. residents would vote for Maryland’s two Senators and have a House Representative. Jackson rebuked Schafer’s proposal, comparing it to South Africa’s “Bantustan” notion of segregated black areas.

In March 1990, Jackson threatened to discuss D.C. statehood with the United Nations. He said:

“If the citizens of Prague or Warsaw or Managua or Moscow were excluded from participation in national government and denied self-determination, we would understand that basic human rights were being violated.”

“The political occupation of the people living in the District of Columbia is a cause for global concern and action.”

Multiple critics of D.C. statehood were concerned about Jackson’s involvement. Delegate Walter Fauntroy had introduced H.R. 51 that would have made D.C. a state. Representative Stan Parris (R-VA), who opposed statehood and thought D.C. residents could vote for Maryland’s Members of Congress while retaining limited home rule, said:

“I have never believed there are enough votes for [a statehood bill] to pass.”

“But Jesse Jackson's presence might have an impact on the scheduling of a vote on statehood.”

Parris said his response, if Democrats insisted on D.C. statehood, would be “to increase the stakes by suggesting the alternative to statehood is repeal of home rule.”

In an October 1990 Washington Post article, Jackson said:

“Statehood for the District of Columbia requires legislation passed by a majority in the House and Senate and the president's signature. We must persuade a majority in Congress and the president that creating New Columbia is morally right, rationally sound, legally possible and constitutionally permitted. We must use every means available to us, within the law -- from direct action to small groups to television -- to educate about the contradiction of 600,000 taxpaying Americans forced to live politically disenfranchised in our nation's capital -- the cradle of democracy. Gaining statehood will require local and national mobilization and motivation, public education and political struggle -- things that as a human rights and political activist for most of my life I feel uniquely qualified to do. Also, the fact that I won 7 million votes nationally, including 91 congressional districts, and finished first or second in 46 of 54 Democratic presidential primary races in 1988 -- and may run in 1992 -- means Congress and the president cannot ignore statehood.”

After Jackson won election to D.C.’s shadow Senate seat in 1990, he said:

“A lot of people on the Hill look on statehood with contempt.”

“I'll be willing to use every legal and extralegal means to win representation” for D.C.

Between 1991 and 1997, Jackson was D.C.’s statehood Senator for one term. NBC4 reported that Jackson gave “the shadow delegation national attention and legitimacy.” He and Florence Pendelton were D.C.’s initial two shadow Senators years after D.C. residents approved a shadow delegation in a 1980 referendum. In 1991, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) began her decades-long career as D.C.’s sole non-voting representative in Congress.

Jackson disliked his “shadow senator” title. He said:

“That's not the title.”

“It's United States Senator from Washington.”

“Shadow” was not on the ballot that Jackson was elected on in 1990. However, according to Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), “The very term ‘shadow Senator,’ reminds us that a large group of our fellow Americans doesn't have a real Senator.”

 Jackson slammed the House vote against D.C. statehood in a vote of 277-153. However, that vote was seen as a political victory and marked the first time that a Congressional chamber voted on D.C. statehood.

In 1996, Jackson did not run for re-election. He returned to Chicago.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appointed Jackson to be the Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa. In 2000, Clinton gave Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the U.S.’s highest civilian honor. 

Tributes

Jackson received many tributes after he died. On X, Obama credited Jackson for laying “the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s statement began:

“From a library in Greenville, South Carolina, to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta to the halls of Congress, elected by the people of DC to represent us as one of our first shadow senators, Rev. Jesse Jackson was a fighter, a man who lived the sense of hope that he preached, a champion whose courage changed the course of history.”

Norton’s statement was:

“The District of Columbia and our nation mourn the loss of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a pioneer whose leadership reshaped civil rights advocacy and American politics. I was honored to work alongside him during his service as D.C.’s Shadow Senator and throughout his lifelong fight for equality and democracy.”

“From the front lines of the civil rights movement to national campaigns that expanded the political imagination of this country, Jesse Jackson lifted up the voices of those too often unheard. He turned protest into progress and transformed moral conviction into political action. His work built bridges across race, class, and geography, helping redefine what inclusive democracy could look like in America.”

“In his years representing the District, Rev. Jackson stood firmly for D.C. statehood and full self‑governance. He recognized that the denial of representation to D.C. residents was a civil rights issue at the heart of America’s unfinished democratic promise.”

“Rev. Jackson’s courage, faith, and belief in the power of ordinary citizens to change history will endure. His legacy is a challenge to us all to continue the struggle for equality, for voting rights, and for a democracy that fully lives up to its ideals.”

The Congressional Black Caucus’ statement included:

“From a young age, Reverend Jackson was deeply engaged in the Civil Rights Movement – first as a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and later as the founder and national director of Chicago’s Operation Breadbasket. He marched in Selma, Alabama alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Rep. John Lewis, standing on the front lines in the fight for voting rights, justice, and equality. As founder of Operation PUSH in 1971 and the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984 – organizations that would later merge to form the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition – Reverend Jackson has for decades been at the forefront of promoting social justice, equality, and economic empowerment.”

“In 1984, Rev. Jackson broke barriers, running for the Democratic presidential nomination and becoming the first African-American to run and win in statewide primaries and caucuses, garnering over 3 million votes. Through his historic presidential campaigns and decades of organizing, Rev. Jackson helped break open doors for Black political power in this nation, expanding the electorate, building multiracial coalitions, and paving the way for a new generation of Black elected leaders. And in 1991, Rev. Jackson would be elected as the ‘shadow’ U.S. Senator from Washington, D.C., in the ongoing effort to secure D.C. statehood.”

Final Thoughts

Let’s memorialize Jackson by finally making D.C. a state. D.C. residents favor D.C. statehood. As Shadow Senator, Jackson said, “Our quest is simple: fairness and equal protection under the law and equal representation.” Decades later, the quotation rings true. It is only fair that D.C. residents have the same rights and voting representation as residents of the nation’s 50 states.