A Texas pastor and “longtime student” of the Rev. Jesse Jackson will succeed the 81-year-old civil rights leader as head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the national organization that has long extended Jackson’s influence from Chicago’s South Side.
The Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, is taking on the role of president, coalition leaders said Saturday, a day after the group announced Jackson was “pivoting away” from the helm. One of Jackson’s sons, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, said health was a factor in the decision.
Haynes, 62, couldn’t be reached for comment. He’s expected to be formally introduced Sunday during the Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention, at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to deliver remarks.
In a statement, coalition leaders called Haynes “a long-time student of Rev. Jackson and supporter of the organization.”
“Rev. Jackson will be heavily involved in the transition while also continuing in his unwavering commitment to social justice, elevating his life’s work through education within Rainbow PUSH and in training ministers to continue the movement,” the coalition said.
The Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III.
Friendship-West Baptist Church
Haynes, who has served at Friendship-West Baptist for 40 years, studied at Bishop College in Dallas, where he earned a bachelor’s in religion and English in 1982. He also has degrees from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Foundation, according to an online church biography.
He has a background in activism with a focus on social justice, domestic violence and poverty, and was applauded by former President Barack Obama for his THR!VE Intern and Leadership Program, which aims to connect young Black people with internships, mentors and jobs.
Rainbow PUSH has said Jackson will remain connected to the coalition. “His commitment is unwavering, and he will elevate his life’s work by teaching ministers how to fight for social justice and continue the freedom movement,” according to the group.
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., right, and his aide Rev. Jesse Jackson are seen in Chicago, Aug. 19, 1966. Dr. King holds a Chicago Daily News paper with a headline that reads “City Seeks To Cut Marches.” During a meeting with 1,000 civil rights workers in a South Side church, King said, “We aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around.”
Sun-Times file
Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017. His son Jonathan, a former Rainbow PUSH Coalition director, said “it is progressive,” and that his father often uses a wheelchair.
This weekend’s convention marks the 35th anniversary of Jackson’s 1988 Democratic presidential primary bid. He also ran in 1984.
His activism started decades before, as one of the “Greenville Eight,” a group of Black students protesting at the white-only public library in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina.
He formed Operation PUSH in 1971 and, multiple times over the years, successfully negotiated the release of U.S. citizens being held hostage abroad. The Rainbow Coalition, which grew out of his 1984 presidential campaign, merged with PUSH in 1996.
Jackson’s regular Saturday morning session at his headquarters was for years a must-stop for local, state and national political figures. Jackson helped lead a 1983 voter registration drive that ultimately resulted in the election of Harold Washington as Chicago’s first Black mayor.
In recent years, he’s continued publicly advocating for civil rights and various political campaigns while leading Rainbow PUSH.