Rev. Jesse Jackson’s passing is ‘bittersweet,’ says area bishop

MIDDLETOWN – Civil rights leader is bittersweet, to Bishop James Rollins of Middletown.

Jackson, who was 84, was an icon in terms of the civil rights movement, said Rollins.

“We stand on the shoulders of icons like Rev. Jackson and we will continue to do that, and even though he has left this life, the legacy of the many civil rights initiatives that he started and the ones that he supported are still a part of the bedrock of civil rights movement that we now experience in America,” Rollins said.

Jackson died Tuesday in Chicago.

He was a protégé of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was noted for starting the Rainbow Coalition.

He was the father of U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson and former Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.