Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago, is stepping down from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the influential Chicago-based civil rights organization he founded through its predecessor, Operation PUSH, more than 50 years ago.

       After ceding day-to-day operations last year, Jackson, 81, is formally handing the reins to a successor who is expected to be announced this weekend at the annual Rainbow/PUSH convention, sources close to the organization said Friday.

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       Headquartered in a former temple in the Kenwood neighborhood on the South Side, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition has long been Jackson’s national advocacy platform to promote economic, educational and political change, including two groundbreaking campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s.