Jesse Jackson To Step Down As Head Of Civil Rights Organization Rainbow PUSH

CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to step down from leading the Chicago civil rights organization Rainbow PUSH Coalition he founded in 1971.

A spokesperson for Rep. Jonathan Jackson confirmed on Friday that the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate will be leaving his post this week.

Jackson is 81 and has remained active in civil rights in recent years despite health setbacks.

The organization for years has held voter registration drives in communities of color and encourages corporations to hire more minorities.

Jackson announced in 2017 that he had begun outpatient care for Parkinson’s disease two years earlier.