Human Rights Campaign Mourns Civil Rights Leader Rev. Jesse Jackson

WASHINGTON—The Human Rights Campaign released the following statement on the death of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson:  

“The fight for justice requires courage, hope, and a relentlessness that will not be denied. Reverend Jesse Jackson embodied that fight everyday,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson. “From disrupting political systems and building people power to helping this country imagine a freer future for all of us, Rev Jackson was a force. 

“His historic presidential campaigns paved the way for generations of Black leaders to imagine ourselves in rooms we were once told were closed to us. Reverend Jackson also stood up when it mattered; when it wasn’t easy and when it wasn’t popular. His support for marriage equality and for LGBTQ+ people affirmed a simple, powerful truth: our liberation is bound together.

As a Chicago native, my heart is heavy, but we do not grieve without hope. Reverend Jackson’s life reminds us that progress is made by people who refuse to give up on one another—and who keep faith with the future even when the present is painful. Today and every day we will carry forward the call he lived by: to keep our eyes on the prize, and to build a country where everyone can live free and full lives. May his memory continue to fuel our demand for justice and equality.”

A leading voice during the civil rights movement and decades-long advocate for human rights around the globe, Jackson founded what is now the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. During the fight to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Jackson spoke up strongly for marriage equality, saying in part, “Marriage is based on love and commitment – not on sexual orientation. I support the right for any person to marry the person of their choosing.”

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