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The
casket
with the
Rev.
Jesse
Jackson
is seen
before
the
Public
Homegoing
Service
at the
House of
Hope in
Chicago,
Friday,
March 6,
2026. |
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Rev.
Jesse
Jackson
gives a
speech
in
Chicago
during
his
Democratic
Party
run for
president
in 1984.
Photo by
David
Hume
Kennerly/Getty
Images. |
| |
A Lion
of
Social
Justice
Laid to
Rest:
The
World
Bids
Farewell
to Rev.
Jesse
Jackson
Sr.
Jordan
Jenkins,
Senior
Civil
Rights
Reporter
Tell Us
Chicago
News
CHICAGO,
IL -
Civil
rights
icon the
Rev.
Jesse
Jackson
was laid
to rest
this
weekend
in
Chicago,
where
thousands
of
mourners
—
including
three
former
presidents,
prominent
clergy,
and
everyday
admirers
—
gathered
to honor
his
lifetime
of
activism,
ministry,
and
political
influence.
Final
services
in
Chicago
Jackson’s
funeral
observances
culminated
in
Chicago
with a
major
public
“People’s
Celebration”
at the
House of
Hope on
the
South
Side,
followed
by a
private
homegoing
service
at the
Rainbow
PUSH
Coalition
headquarters.
The
House of
Hope
service,
which
drew a
crowd
that
wrapped
around
the
parking
lot,
mixed
the
atmosphere
of a
church
service
with the
energy
of a
political
rally as
speakers
recalled
Jackson’s
signature
call: “I
am
somebody”
and his
exhortation
to “keep
hope
alive.”
High-profile
mourners
and
speakers
Former
Presidents
Barack
Obama,
Bill
Clinton
and Joe
Biden
took
front-row
seats at
the
House of
Hope and
joined
former
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris,
Illinois
Gov.
J.B.
Pritzker
and
Chicago
Mayor
Brandon
Johnson
in
paying
tribute
to
Jackson’s
reach
from
city
streets
to
international
diplomacy.
Civil
rights
leaders
including
the Rev.
Al
Sharpton
and U.S.
Reps.
Maxine
Waters
and
Jesús
“Chuy”
García
also
spoke,
framing
Jackson’s
death as
a call
to
renewed
action
on
voting
rights,
racial
justice
and
economic
inequality.
Music
and
memories
The
service
featured
performances
by
Grammy-winning
gospel
artists
and
Chicago-born
Oscar
winner
Jennifer
Hudson,
whose
musical
tribute
helped
anchor a
program
that
stretched
for
hours.
Outside
the
church,
vendors
sold
buttons
with
Jackson’s
1984
presidential
slogan
and
hoodies
bearing
his “I
Am
Somebody”
mantra,
while
video
screens
replayed
excerpts
of his
most
famous
speeches
for
those
waiting
in long
lines to
get
inside.
Family’s
role and
private
farewell
Jackson’s
children
and
widow
played a
central
role in
the
tributes,
with
sons
Jesse
Jackson
Jr. and
Rep.
Jonathan
Jackson
delivering
reflections
and
daughter
Santita
Jackson
performing
the hymn
“To God
Be the
Glory.”
After
the
public
celebration
concluded,
the
family
accompanied
Jackson’s
casket
out of
the
arena,
then
reconvened
Saturday
at
Rainbow
PUSH for
a
smaller,
invitation-only
funeral
that
closed a
weekslong
series
of
remembrances
stretching
from
South
Carolina
to
Washington,
D.C.,
and back
to
Chicago.
Legacy
highlighted
Speakers
repeatedly
returned
to
Jackson’s
journey
from
Greenville,
South
Carolina,
to the
upper
ranks of
American
politics,
noting
his two
presidential
campaigns
and his
decades
of work
pressing
corporate
boardrooms
and
political
leaders
on civil
rights,
labor,
and
economic
inclusion.
Many
urged
mourners
to honor
Jackson’s
memory
by
organizing,
voting
and
mentoring
the next
generation,
arguing
that the
most
fitting
tribute
would be
to
continue
the
movement
he
helped
build.
Would
you like
this
rewritten
in a
tighter
wire-style
brief
for
quick
publication,
or as a
longer
feature
with
color
and
quotes?
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