A successor to Mr. Jackson, the civil rights leader, will be announced at the group’s convention this weekend. Mr. Jackson, 81, announced in 2017 that he had Parkinson’s disease.
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the longtime civil rights leader and former Democratic presidential candidate, plans to step down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization he founded, the group said in a statement on Friday.
Mr. Jackson, 81, who has had several health issues in recent years and announced in 2017 that he had Parkinson’s disease, spoke about the decision on the organization’s weekly radio broadcast on Saturday, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
“I’m going to make a transition pretty soon,” Mr. Jackson said, according to the news station. “I’ve been doing this stuff for 64 years. I was 18 years old. I’m going to get a new president for Rainbow PUSH Coalition.”
He said he would work with the new president and the board through the change. “I want to see us grow and prosper,” he said, adding: “We have the ability to build on what we’ve established over the years.”
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition said in a statement that a successor to Mr.
