CHICAGO — Mourners filed through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., as memorial events that will span the country began in the city he long called home.
Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will lie in repose for two days at the coalition’s headquarters before services are held in Washington, D.C., and in South Carolina, where he was born. Family members wiped away tears as the casket was carried into the stately brick building and flowers gathered along the sidewalks. A large screen outside showed excerpts of his speeches while some waiting to enter raised fists in solidarity.
Inside the auditorium, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton stood by the open casket greeting visitors. Jackson was dressed in a suit with a blue shirt and tie. “The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton said, urging mourners to carry on Jackson’s work and Dr. King’s dream.
Jackson died last week at 84 after a long battle with a rare neurological disorder that in recent years affected his mobility and speech. Tributes have poured in worldwide; several state governors, including those in Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, ordered flags lowered to half-staff.
In Chicago, where Jackson lived for decades and raised six children, the loss has been widely felt. Bouquets accumulated outside the family’s South Side home, public schools issued condolences, and city trains displayed his portrait and his rallying cry, “I am Somebody!” People of all ages — toddlers in strollers to elders in wheelchairs — lined up for the visitation. Inside the auditorium, video clips of Jackson from news conferences, the campaign trail and even Sesame Street played for those paying their respects.
Jackson’s activism spanned voting rights, jobs, education and health care. He negotiated diplomatic wins with foreign leaders and used Rainbow PUSH to pressure corporations to open opportunities for Black executives and communities. “We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” Mayor Johnson said.
Next week Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services there. Gov. Henry McMaster was listed on the agenda though his participation had not been confirmed. A request to have Jackson lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol rotunda was denied by the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson. The two weeks of events will conclude with a large celebration of life at a Chicago megachurch and final homegoing services at Rainbow PUSH; family members say all services will be open to the public.
“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” Jesse Jackson Jr. said before the services, asking mourners to set aside political rhetoric and division to reflect on a man who worked to bring people together.