Jackson moved back to Chicago after serving as a shadow senator for Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1996. The merger formed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition with a mission to protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world.

In the United States, the first rainbow coalition sought to bring together disadvantaged people from a broad spectrum of races and creeds, and voter mobilization was a primary goal in that effort.

The Rainbow Coalition engaged in joint action against poverty, corruption, racism, police brutality, and substandard housing. The participating groups supported each other at protests, strikes, and demonstrations where they had a common cause.

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.