Civil rights legends (from left) T.R.M. Howard, Thomas Todd, Jesse Jackson and Cecil Hale attend a PUSH event at Hugh Hefner’s original Playboy Mansion. Jackson had founded PUSH, or People United to Serve Humanity, in 1971. Jackson and Hefner remained friends across the decades. After Hefner’s September 2017 death, Jackson wrote about him for PLAYBOY’s 2017 special tribute edition celebrating the life of the legendary magazine founder. “When Hugh Hefner’s light passed through the prism of my life, what I saw was a powerful ray of support for racial and social justice around the world,” Jackson wrote. “Hefner brought people together from all walks of life to talk and to learn from each other. He did so much to illuminate the darkness.” Jackson was the subject of the renowned *Playboy Interview* in November 1969 and again in June 1984; to read both, visit [Playboy Magazine](https://playboycomstg.playboy.com/magazine).
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