Founded in 1971 by Jesse L. Jackson, Chicago director of Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket, PUSH pledged to help fulfill Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of eliminating poverty and securing racial equality.

From its start PUSH advocated education, job placement, and economic empowerment. It gained support from the business community through negotiations or by demonstrations such as sit-ins or boycotts. Major goals included fair housing and voter registration, which paved the way for the election of Chicago's first black mayor in 1983. As Jackson anticipated his second run for the Democratic presidential nomination, he renamed the organization the National Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in 1985. Racial and ethnic minorities, women, and workers comprised a majority of its supporters.