CHICAGO – Well-known civil rights leader and former Presidential candidate, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, says he’s stepping down as president of an organization he helped found – the Rainbow-Push Coalition.
Jackson – suffering from Parkinson’s Disease the last six years – said during a weekly service this week he will step down as president. He’s previously already stepped down from day to day operations.
FOX-TV in Chicago reports Jackson and the group’s board recently met and a search is on for a new president.
“I’m going to work along with the new president and our board, and we’ll have a new president who will in fact be working here day to day,” said Jackson, during a service. “I want to see us grow and prosper. I think this idea about stopping your drop does not make sense. We have the ability to build on what we’ve established over the years.”
Jackson says he’s been running Rainbow-Push since he founded Operation Push six decades ago as a backer of Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.
