Veteran US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson has died on Tuesday.

According to reports, his family said in a statement. He was 84.

“Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world.

“His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you honour his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by,” the statement read.

Born in 1941 and raised in the segregated American South, Jackson rose to national prominence during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s. He became a close associate of the iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., aligning himself with the movement’s push for racial equality and social justice.

An eloquent orator and media-savvy activist, Jackson advocated for the rights of Black Americans and other marginalised communities for decades. Despite weathering controversies throughout his career, he remained one of America’s most recognised civil rights figures.

Jackson twice sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988.

In 1984, he won about 3.3 million votes – roughly 18 per cent of ballots cast in Democratic contests – finishing third behind Walter Mondale and Gary Hart in the race to challenge incumbent President Ronald Reagan. His campaign, however, suffered a setback after remarks he privately made about Jewish people and New York became public.

By 1988, Jackson had emerged as a more polished and mainstream contender. He secured 11 state primaries and caucuses, including several in the South, and garnered 6.8 million votes—29 per cent of those cast—finishing second to Michael Dukakis in the Democratic race to face Republican George H.W. Bush.

Although he never held elective office, his campaigns were widely seen as historic, paving the way for future Black presidential contenders, including fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama, who was elected president in 2008.

Jackson founded Chicago-based civil rights organizations Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition, expanding his advocacy beyond race to include economic justice and political empowerment.

He also served as special envoy to Africa under Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and was instrumental in negotiating the release of several Americans and others detained abroad in countries such as Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Serbia.

Jackson was renowned for his electrifying speeches. At the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, he delivered one of his most memorable addresses.

“America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one colour, one cloth,” he told delegates.

“Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don’t you surrender. Suffering breeds character, character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint.”

In 2017, at age 76, Jackson announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder marked by trembling, stiffness and impaired balance. He revealed that he had experienced symptoms for three years prior to the diagnosis.