The Rev. Jesse Jackson announced he will be stepping down from leading the Chicago civil rights organization Rainbow PUSH Coalition he founded in 1971, the organization announced Friday.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition officially transferred leadership to Reverend Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III of Dallas as the organization's president.
“Reverend Jesse Jackson is officially pivoting from his role as president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition. His commitment is unwavering, and he will elevate his life’s work by teaching ministers how to fight for social justice and continue the freedom movement,” the organization said in a statement. “Rev. Jackson’s global impact and civil rights career will be celebrated this weekend at the 57th annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention, where his successor will be introduced.”
Jackson, who will turn 82 in October, has remained active in civil rights in recent years despite health setbacks. For the last 57 years, Jackson has led the coalition which has global reach and impact. His decision is a result of his ongoing journey with Parkinson's disease.
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"I am looking forward to this next chapter where I will continue to focus on economic justice, mentorship, and teaching ministers how to fight for social justice. I will still be very involved in the organization and am proud that we have chosen Rev. Dr. Haynes as my successor," said Jackson.
He announced in 2017 that he had begun outpatient care for Parkinson’s disease two years earlier. In early 2021, he had gallbladder surgery and later that year was treated for COVID-19 including a stint at a physical therapy-focused facility. He was hospitalized again in November 2021 for a fall that caused a head injury.
Santita Jackson, one of his daughters, said in an interview that her father would not be vanishing.
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“While the flesh may not be willing, the spirit is,” she said, adding that she hoped her father would provide a living history. “Dr. King gave him his assignment and he’s been faithful to it in every iteration of his life. Many people have said Dr. King was the architect and Rev. Jackson was the builder.”
Jackson broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1971 to form Operation PUSH — originally named People United to Save Humanity — a sweeping civil rights organization based on Chicago’s South Side.
The organization was later renamed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition with a mission ranging from encouraging corporations to hire more minorities to voter registration drives in communities of color. Its annual convention is set for this weekend in Chicago.
Jackson has long been a powerful voice in American politics.
Until Barack Obama’s election in 2008, Jackson was the most successful Black candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988.
He stood with the family of George Floyd at a memorial for the Black man murdered in 2020 by a white police officer, whose death forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism. Jackson also participated in COVID-19 vaccination drives to battle hesitancy in Black communities.
Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, said in a statement that he had spoken to Jackson on Friday morning and “told him that we will continue to glean from him and learn from him and duplicate him in whatever our organizations and media platforms are. Because he has been an anchor for me and many others.”
Sharpton called Jackson his mentor, adding: “The resignation of Rev. Jesse Jackson is the pivoting of one of the most productive, prophetic, and dominant figures in the struggle for social justice in American history.”
The soon-to-be new president, Rev. Haynes, is a pastor, leader and social activist, engaged in preaching and fighting against racial injustice.
“It’s not enough to shout at church on Sunday. You’ve got to hit the streets during the week," Haynes said during a speech on Sunday.
In a statement released Saturday, the organization stated, "Haynes has devoted his life to economic justice and empowerment in underserved communities and transforming the lives of the disenfranchised."
Haynes has served as a visionary and innovative senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas for the past 40 years. He considers himself a longtime student of Jackson and has spoken to and for Rainbow PUSH Coalition frequently.
"As a student of Rev. Jackson's, I am honored to be selected for this prestigious and important position. The role Rainbow PUSH Coalition plays today is just as critical as it was in 1963 when the organization was founded. Our communities need organizations like Rainbow PUSH to not only continue the fight for justice and equality but to shepherd the next generation of advocates into the movement," said Reverend Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, incoming President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
During the formal announcement on Sunday, Rev. Haynes gave an impassioned speech about Rev. Jackson and his legacy.
“I stand here on his shoulders because no one with sense would try to stand in his shoes. His shoes are too large, they’ve taken us so far," he said. "You took the baton of freedom fighting from the hand of the drum major for justice, Martin Luther King, Jr and you dared to say to a nation, go ahead and keep hope alive."
Jackson's achievements were celebrated with music, performances and guest speakers during Rainbow PUSH Coalition's 57th annual conference. Vice President Kamala Harris was a guest speaker, sharing words of praise for Rev. Jackson.
"The heroes of this moment are those who bring us together in coalition. Those who know that strength is not measured in who you beat down but who you lift up," she said. "So let us stand together, united and strong knowing as Rev has always understood, we refuse to throw up our hands when it is time to roll up our sleeves."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
