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REV. JESSE JACKSON OCT. 8, 1941 — FEB. 17, 2026
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson addresses the crowd at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Riders toss beads to the crowd as the 82nd Lions Club New Roads Mardi Gras parade rolls through New Roads on Tuesday.
‘A servant leader’ Jesse Jackson, who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after King, dies
BY SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press
A young paradegoer dons some beads during the Lions Club New Roads Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday.
MARDI GRAS 2026
INSIDE, 10A, 12A 1B The Community Center Carnival Club of Pointe Coupee parade rolls through New Roads THEADVOCATE.COM on Tuesday.
Dixie Mafia terrorized Gulf Coast for decades
Key player ran scams, ordered hits while behind bars at Angola BY POET WOLFE
into the home of Frank Corso, a New Orleans grocer, setting off an Easter night gunfight On a spring day in 1971, a that left Corso dead and Nix shackled Kirksey Nix walked wounded — the bullet too daninto a Louisiana courtroom gerous to remove, according with a bullet lodged in his side. to court records. Three years Then 28, he was accused of later, he and his accomplices being one of three armed in- were sentenced to life in prison truders who forced their way at the Louisiana State Peniten-
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 79 LOW 65 PAGE 8B
tiary at Angola. The son of an Oklahoma judge, Nix was more than a convicted murderer. He was a key player in the Dixie Mafia, a loose criminal network that operated across the South — including parts of the Mississippi
ä See DIXIE, page 11A
Kirksey Nix was a key player during the Dixie Mafia era, even operating as a con artist while behind bars. SUN HERALD FILE PHOTO
CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination, died Tuesday. He was 84. As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, shortly before King was killed, and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King’s successor. Santita Jackson confirmed that her father, who had a rare neurological disorder, died at home in Chicago, surrounded by family. Jackson led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues, including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society. And when he declared, “I am Somebody,” in a poem he often repeated, he sought to reach people of all colors. “I may be poor, but I am Somebody; I may be young; but I am Somebody; I may be on
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ä See JACKSON, page 8A
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