February 19, 2026
UUP mourns the passing of seminal civil rights leader and labor champion Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Feb. 17.
Jackson, a two-time presidential candidate, was a strong organized labor leader who routinely visited picket lines, spoke at labor rallies and organized boycotts that led to thousands of new jobs for Black workers. He tirelessly fought for social justice and economic justice and promoted those causes across the country and around the world.
He founded Operation PUSH in 1971, a group that focused on improving the economic conditions of Black communities. In 1984, after his first presidential run, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, a social justice organization that advocated for voting rights and economic development.
In 1996, he combined the groups into the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, with a mission to protect, defend, and gain civil rights and promote peace and justice worldwide.
Jackson had a long history of fighting for civil rights. He joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1965 and quickly made his presence known. He successfully led King’s national Operation Breadbasket program and he was in Memphis, Tenn. with King when King was assassinated in 1968.
“We have lost a great American, a leader of the work of racial, economic and social justice,” said UUP President Fred Kowal. “He carried on the work of Martin Luther King Jr. but also made the work his own by taking on the political system in America in his campaigns for president. In doing so, he paved the way for President Barack Obama and those who call for new policies to press this nation live up to its ideals. It is up to all of us to take up this work through all that we do as a union.”
What follows are links to statements about Jackson’s life and legacy by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond; AFT President Randi Weingarten, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus; and NEA President Becky Pringle:
Click HERE to read the AFL-CIO statement.
Click HERE to read the AFT statement.
Click HERE to read the NEA statement.