Dallas Pastor Becomes President of Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Succeeding Rev. Jesse Jackson

Dallas-based minister Frederick Douglass Haynes III succeeds Jesse Jackson and becomes president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Reverend Haynes, 62, was officially introduced on Sunday at the 57th annual conference. This comes the day after Jesse Jackson, who is a protégé of Martin Luther King, stepped down for health reasons.

On July 8 Rev. Jackson, the founder of the organization, made it known that he would personally select the next leader. He wrote, “We had a board meeting last week. I’m going to make a transition pretty soon. I’ve been doing this stuff for 64 years. I was 18 years old. I’m going to get a new president for Rainbow PUSH Coalition.”

Reverend Frederick Haynes III has served as the senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church since 1883. He actively fights social injustice, domestic violence, and poverty and has formed many alliances along the way.