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In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Jackson publicly condemns racial
1990 Negotiates the release of U.S. and international citizens held as “human shields” violence and renews calls for police accountability, voting rights, and nonviolent 2020
during the Gulf crisis.
civic action amid nationwide protests.
1991 1991-1997: Serves as D.C. Statehood Senator, leading the push for June 19, 2021:Jackson joins thousands marching through downtown Chicago
representation and full rights for the District’s residents.
on Juneteenth, urging Americans to confront unfinished work on racial justice, 2021
economic equity, and democratic participation.
1997 October 1997: Named Special Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa
by President Clinton; conducts high-level diplomatic missions.
August 21, 2021: Jackson and his wife Jacqueline are hospitalized after testing
positive for COVID-19; he later undergoes rehabilitation and 2021
1999 May 1999: Leads interfaith negotiations to win freedom for U.S. soldiers held publicly urges vaccination.
in Yugoslavia.
December 1999: Co-authors It’s About the Money! with son Jesse Jackson Jr., July 2023: After more than five decades at the helm, Jackson announces he will 2023
1999 focusing on wealth building and economic access. step down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, calling the move a
“pivot” while ensuring leadership continuity.
August 2024: At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, an ailing
2000 August 2000: Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s Jackson appears onstage in a wheelchair and receives a standing ovation — a 2024
highest civilian honor.
powerful public tribute to his decades of organizing.
February 16, 2003: Jackson delivers the keynote March 9, 2025: Jackson crosses the Edmund Pettus
2003 address to more than one million demonstrators Bridge in Selma with civil-rights leaders to mark 2025
in Hyde Park, opposing the impending U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq and urging nonviolent global Bloody Sunday’s 60th anniversary, joining a chained
memory to contemporary voting-rights urgency.
cooperation. DNC
PHOTO
April 2025: Medical specialists revise Jackson’s
United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon diagnosis from Parkinson’s disease to progressive 2025
2009 Brown presents Jackson with the Global supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative
Diversity and Inclusion Award at 10 Downing disorder he faces with courage.
Street, recognizing his international human-
rights leadership.
November 2025: Amid hospitalization related to a complication of his neurologic
March 14 - onward: Rainbow PUSH expands its Silicon Valley Project and condition, Jackson leads a national call for 2,000 churches to distribute 2,000 2025
2014 opens a Bay Area office to press for board diversity, tech hiring, and access to food baskets each, reaffirming his lifelong commitment to feeding the hungry.
capital for minority entrepreneurs.
March 2015: Jackson joins leaders marking the 50th anniversary of Selma’s February 17, 2026: The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. dies at 84 in Chicago, 2026
2015 Bloody Sunday, a public act of remembrance and an insistence that the work for surrounded by family; his life leaves an international ledger of justice, moral risk,
voting rights must continue. and organized hope.

