Rev. Jesse Jackson, longtime civil rights activist, dies at 84
(NBC, KYMA) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights activist, has died at the age of 84-years-old.
According to a statement from his family, the Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidate died Tuesday.
Rev. Jackson rose to prominence in the Civil Rights Era, participating in demonstrations alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
His activism spread decades, including two runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.
Jackson was admitted to the hospital in November, and had been living, for years, with progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson's disease.
His family said he died peacefully and was surrounded by his loved ones, and a cause of death was not immediately given.
