Jesse Jackson was the living bridge between King and Obama

<p>Jackson’s two presidential runs brought the civil rights movement into the heart of the Democratic party and opened doors for others to walk through</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/17/jesse-jackson-death-tributes-memories">Share your tributes and memories of Jesse Jackson</a></p></li></ul><p>He witnessed the assassination of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/martin-luther-king">Martin Luther King</a> at the Lorraine motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Forty years later, he joined the jubilant crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park to greet <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a>’s election victory and had tears streaming down his face.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jesse-jackson">Jesse Jackson</a>, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84, was hailed by Martin Luther King III and his wife Andrea King as “a living bridge between generations”. He was the most influential African American political voice between King and Obama. His two runs for the Democratic nomination created the imaginative space for a Black president. He was the architect of a “rainbow coalition” that shapes the Democratic party today.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/17/jesse-jackson-legacy-king-obama">Continue reading...</a>