Activist Jesse Jackson born

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. born Jesse Louis Burns in Greenville, South Carolina. An influential activist, particularly in the areas of minority rights, Jackson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.

He is the founder of both entities that merged to form Rainbow/PUSH.

Jackson was with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee when King was assassinated on April 4, 1968