The family of Jesse Jackson, US civil rights leader, has announced his death at the age of 84.
“Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked,” the family says.
Jackson fought for civil rights in the 1960s alongside Martin Luther King Jr., whose daughter remembers Jackson as a “gifted negotiator.”
US President Donald Trump also paid tribute, calling Jackson a “force of nature” with “lots of personality, grit and street smarts.”
Kamala Harris, former vice-president, describes Jackson as “one of America’s greatest patriots.”
Jackson built a career around working to politically organise and improve the lives of African-Americans, and became a national force during his two White House campaigns, writes the BBC’s Anthony Zurcher
Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017 and was hospitalised for observation last November after being diagnosed with a degenerative condition.
