Renowned US civil rights activist to be awarded France's Legion of Honour

Issued on: 19/07/2021 -

File photo of US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson. 

AFP - ALIK KEPLICZ
Text by: NEWS WIRES

Veteran American civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson will on Monday be awarded France's highest order of merit, the Legion of Honour, President Emmanuel Macron's office said.

"Jesse Jackson never stopped campaigning for peace, justice and fraternity. He is also committed to education and climate," Macron's office said Friday, adding that the ceremony would take place in the Élysée Palace.

"The values promoted by Reverend Jackson are universal and are those of the Republic," it said, adding that Jackson had inspired several generations of activists and public leaders on several continents with his message rejecting "all forms of racism and exclusion".

Baptist minister Jackson, 79, was a companion of Martin Luther King in the 1960s.

After running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, he was appointed by Bill Clinton as his envoy to Africa.

Jackson announced in 2017 that he was suffering from Parkinson's disease.

(AFP)