{"id":116559,"date":"2026-02-17T23:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/116559\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T23:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:50:08","slug":"pa-leaders-mourn-death-of-civil-rights-leader-rev-jesse-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/116559\/","title":{"rendered":"PA leaders mourn death of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and state advocacy groups are joining voices around the nation mourning the death of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday at the age of 84.<\/p>\n

Jackson led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Throughout his life, Jackson advocated for the poor and underrepresented on issues like voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He was also a two-time presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cRev. Jesse Jackson was a change maker, a boundary breaker, and a passionate and unrelenting crusader for civil rights, equality and opportunity,\u201d Shapiro wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post. \u201cTo be around him felt like you were experiencing history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro shared a photo of himself shaking Jackson\u2019s hand and said it was an honor to share the pulpit with Jackson back in 2016 at the Sharon Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hung on his every word and could feel how much his presence meant to the congregation,\u201d the governor wrote. \u201cLori and I are praying for his wife Jacqueline, his family, and everyone he inspired over the years. May the memory of Rev. Jesse Jackson be a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson, who had a rare neurological disorder, died at his Chicago home while surrounded by family, his daughter Santita Jackson confirmed to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on Tuesday lauded Jackson\u2019s lifelong commitment to justice, democracy and human dignity, which it says, \u201ctransformed the national landscape for equal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReverend Jackson was a titan of the civil rights movement,\u201d said Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter, who met Jackson several times over the years. \u201cAs an organizer and strategist, he carried forward the unfinished work of Martin Luther King Jr. with extraordinary discipline and moral clarity. His leadership helped bridge generations of activism, connecting the struggles of the 1960s to the ongoing pursuit of equity today. I was blessed to have met him and to witness firsthand his deep compassion, sharp intellect, and unwavering belief that all people deserve dignity. Today, we honor a man who dedicated his life to opening doors for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chief Counsel Joseph Green also issued a statement, emphasizing Jackson\u2019s influence on civil rights law and advocacy:<\/p>\n

\u201cReverend Jackson was a giant whose life’s work forever shaped the conscience of this nation and the world,\u201d Green said. \u201cI had the pleasure of meeting Reverend Jackson while I was a junior at Cheyney University, and even then, his presence carried history, purpose and unshakable moral clarity. His legacy reaches far beyond the civil rights movement he helped lead; it lives in the doors he forced open for the marginalized, the voices he amplified on the global stage, and the lives he saved through courageous hostage negations and principled international diplomacy. His passing reminds us that the struggle for equality is both historic and ongoing. His legacy challenges each of us to advance justice with courage and conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its own statement, the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus said Jackson\u2019s legacy will never leave Pennsylvania or the United States:<\/p>\n

A giant has transitioned, but his legacy will never leave us. Rev. Jackson taught us that faith without action is incomplete, that justice is worth the fight, and that ordinary people can create extraordinary change.Because of his courage, generations have more room to dream, lead, and demand dignity. May we honor him by continuing his life\u2019s work, lifting our communities, speaking truth, and never letting hope go silent.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and state advocacy groups are joining voices around the nation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-116559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}