Gov. Kathy Hochul directed flags across New York to be lowered to half-staff on Wednesday in honor of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at age 84.
The flags will be lowered concurrently to honor both Jackson and former Rep. Richard L. Ottinger, who passed away on Monday at the age of 97.
“Reverend Jesse Jackson’s life was defined by courage and conviction. From Selma to the national stage, he stood tall against racial injustice,” Hochul said. “Today, I join New Yorkers in honoring his legacy and the generations he inspired. My thoughts are with the family of Reverend Jackson and all those whose lives he touched.”
Jackson, a Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate, rose to prominence during the Civil Rights era and continued advancing the movement following the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He founded People United to Save Humanity in 1971.
His decades of activism included two runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Jackson also worked to secure the release of several detained and captured Americans around the world.