French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday awarded US civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson the Légion d'Honneur, one of France's highest honours, in recognition of what he called "a long walk towards emancipation and justice".
Jackson, was appointed commander of the Légion d'Honneur, one of the highest ranks in the distinction.
"From your earliest years, you were hungry for knowledge and justice, and you are a special friend of France, a brother for us," Macron said in a solemn address at the Élysée palace.
A political activist, minister, and former shadow US senator for the District of Columbia representing the Democratic party, Jackson has been involved in civil rights activism since the 1960s.
The 79-year-old Baptist minister was a companion of the late Martin Luther King. After running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, he was appointed by Bill Clinton as his envoy to Africa.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
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