He weathered a spate of controversies but remained America’s ​preeminent civil rights figure for decades. Jackson founded the Chicago-based civil rights groups Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition and served as Democratic President Bill Clinton’s special envoy to Africa in the 1990s. In 1984, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition, whose broader civil rights mission also included women’s rights and gay rights, and the two organisations merged in 1996. Jackson also had a daughter out of wedlock in 1999 with a woman who worked at his civil rights groups, which became a scandal. He lobbied the auto industry to increase opportunities for Black Americans among suppliers, dealers and in the companies’ management ranks.

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2026 18:06 UTC