The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. Steps Down As Head Of Rainbow PUSH
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. announced his retirement from Rainbow PUSH Coalition on Saturday (July 15) during the organization's annual convention.
According to the Associated Press, Jackson was saluted with song tributes, remarks from other Black activists and politicians, and a video montage of Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns.
Jackson founded the organization in 1971 just years after he stood on a Memphis balcony where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Jackson split ties with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1971 to form Operation PUSH, initially named People United to Save Humanity, on Chicago’s South Side. The organization was later renamed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. The group’s mission ranges from promoting minority hiring in the corporate world to voter registration drives in communities of color.
At 82, Jackson has been battling several health challenges. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago. Jackson further suffered a host of health setbacks in 2021, including gallbladder surgery, then a COVID-19 infection that landed him in a physical therapy-focused facility and a fall at Howard University that caused a head injury.
In remarks, Marcia Fudge, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said of Jackson, “Most people talk a good game but they have no courage,” she said. “But you never left us, no matter how hard (things became).”
One of Jackson's daughters, Santita Jackson, said in an interview that her father would not be disappearing despite his retirement. “While the flesh may not be willing, the spirit is,” she said, adding that she hoped her father would provide a living history. “Dr. King gave him his assignment and he’s been faithful to it in every iteration of his life. Many people have said Dr. King was the architect and Rev. Jackson was the builder.”
In a statement this week, newly-elected Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Jackson "an architect of the soul of Chicago."
He added, “Through decades of service, he has led the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights and social justice. His faith, his perseverance, his love, and his relentless dedication to people inspire all of us to keep pushing for a better tomorrow."The Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, has been announced as the next president of Rainbow PUSH.
The Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, has been announced as the next president of Rainbow PUSH, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
Haynes has served at Friendship-West Baptist for 40 years, and studied at Bishop College in Dallas, where he got a bachelor’s degree in religion and English in 1982. He also has degrees from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Foundation. He is also a long-time student of Rev. Jackson.
He has a background in social justice and formerly led a program called THR!VE Intern and Leadership Program, which connects young Black people with internships, mentors and jobs.
