 Jesse Jackson at a radio broadcast from Operation PUSH convention headquarters, July 1973. Photograph by John H. White. | |
| Formation | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Type | Civil rights |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Location | |
Official language | English |
President | Reverend Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes, III |
| Website | rainbowpush |
Rainbow/PUSH is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization formed as a merger of two nonprofit organizations founded by Jesse Jackson; Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights, and political activism.
In December 1971, Jackson resigned from Operation Breadbasket after clashing with Ralph Abernathy and founded Operation PUSH. In 1984, Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition. It merged with PUSH in 1996. The combined organization's national headquarters is on the South Side of Chicago and it has regional branches in Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, Silicon Valley, New Orleans, and Boston.
Operation PUSH raised public awareness to initiate corporate action and government sponsorship. The National Rainbow Coalition became a prominent political organization that raised public awareness of numerous political issues and consolidated a large voting bloc. The merged entity has undertaken numerous social initiatives.