Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson to step down as Rainbow PUSH Coalition president

Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced plans to step down as president of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the international human and civil rights organization he founded.

Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., formed Operation People United to Save Humanity (PUSH) in 1971. It was later renamed after merging in 1996 with another of his organizations - the National Rainbow Coalition. He discussed his upcoming retirement from the role during a recent YouTube live stream broadcast.

"I'm going to make a transition pretty soon," said Jackson, 81, during a Rainbow PUSH Coalition live stream on July 8.

"I've been doing this stuff for 64 years. I was 18 years old," Jackson said to applause. "I'm going to get a new president for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition."

CNN has reached out to the coalition for comment.

The organization's origins stemmed from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket, founded by King, according to the website.

In 1966, King appointed Jackson as the social justice-focused operation's first director in Chicago.