Cheryl Corley

People will be able to pay their respects at the organization Jackson founded in Chicago decades ago.

Jackson was a protege of Martin Luther King Jr.

and went on to become an influential leader in his own right, as his son Yusef Jackson noted shortly after his father's death.

Next week, Jackson will lie in state in South Carolina's Capitol Building.

Jackson was born in the state, and he'll also be honored in Washington, D.C., before his Chicago funeral.

Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

Jesse Jackson's career spanned decades.

In the 1960s, he was active in the civil rights movement and was an aide to Martin Luther King Jr.

Later, he founded his Rainbow Push Coalition.

In the 1980s, Jackson ran for president twice.

His soaring speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention electrified the audience.

Howard University professor Clarence Lussain said Jackson also had a global footprint as he spotlighted and mediated disputes during his travels.

During an NPR interview in 2016, Jackson said while other civil rights activists died young martyrs, he was blessed to be a long-distance runner.

Cheryl Corley, NPR News.

Jesse Jackson was an aide to Martin Luther King Jr.

in the 1960s.

He later founded his Rainbow Push coalition and led boycotts to force companies to open up their doors to minorities.

He ran for president twice and was the first African-American candidate to win major primaries.

During his lifetime, he also traveled widely to mediate or spotlight both national and international disputes.