Who is Jesse Jackson’s wife Jacqueline Jackson? All about family as civil rights activist hospitalized for progressive supranuclear palsy

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has long relied on his wife for nearly six decades, Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson.

As news breaks of Jackson’s hospitalization for progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder that inhibits movement and balance, many are looking back on the life and fortitude of the woman who has remained at his side through decades of political trails and personal trouble.

Born Jacqueline Lavinia Davis Brown in Fort Pierce, Florida, Jacqueline was a child of resilience and grit. Brought up by her mother, Gertrude Davis, a hospital worker, and stepfather Julius Brown, she was raised in Newport News, Virginia, in a disciplined but loving home.

According to the Los Angeles Times, her formative years were filled with faith, family and education which would influence her as a mother and activist.

Jacqueline was a student at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, where she became friends with Jesse Jackson, who later became a prominent athlete and civil rights activist.

A passion for social justice, which they shared, drew them together and the two were married when she was only 18. The couple had five children, Santita, Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef and Jacqueline, all of whom have continued aspects of the work their parents did in public service and advocacy.

A look into Jesse Jackson's several public controversies and his legacy, as he now faces a dire health situation

The Jacksons have also endured intense personal and public struggles. Jesse Jackson revealed in 2001 that he had fathered a child with another woman out of wedlock, for which he came under intense scrutiny.

But the pair stood firm, showing how strong they are. Their son Jesse Jackson Jr., a former United States congressman, also struggled with legal and health challenges, which the family faced together.

A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson cut his teeth as an activist in the 1960s with efforts to dismantle racial segregation and discrimination at institutions in his own community before joining Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket campaign to expand economic opportunity for Black Americans.

When I was a kid it was always about Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. He was important when I was a kid then I got to high school and found out he was responsible for the term African American. I remember watching him run for president https://t.co/lLsghZ6MF8

— Andre’s Alive Daddy (@TVFan43) November 13, 2025

He then went on to establish Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) in 1971 and, in 1984, the National Rainbow Coalition, two groups that would combine forces as the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 1996.

Civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, 84, is now being closely monitored in Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a neurodegenerative brain disease he has had since at least 2017, according to a statement from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

After first being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Jackson was then told he had PSP in April. 

It is safe to say that Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson was the stable force behind Jesse’s career, from his days with Martin Luther King Jr. to his presidential campaigns in the 1980s. She was responsible in keeping family life intact while backing civil rights causes at home as well as overseas.