The life of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., was celebrated on Friday at a hometown homegoing following two weeks of public memorial services in Chicago and South Carolina.
His final public memorial was held at the House of Hope in the Pullman community, where thousands of people gathered to honor his life and uphold his enduring legacy of social and economic justice, global diplomacy, mentorship, and building progressive and Black collective power.
The vibes during the service weren’t sorrowful; they were celebratory, as is the tradition for memorial services, known as “homegoings” in the Black church.
Jackson died on Feb. 17 at 84. He had been living with Parkinson’s disease since 2013, but in April, his diagnosis changed to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological disorder. Jackson spent time in the hospital in November. At the time, his family said he battled several infections consistent with the progression of his PSP diagnosis.
As early as 7:45 a.m. Friday morning, dozens of cars were lined up on East 111th Street, a few blocks south of the 10,000-seat House of Hope, to attend Jackson’s service.
“I believe God wanted me to hear, to experience and show my gratitude to this leader for how he had given his life to help people and do a lot of great things,” Constance Randall, an attendee, told The TRiiBE. “So, I just wanted to be here to show my gratitude.”
From Greenville to the global stage: A life in service
Jackson was born Jesse Louis Burns on Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina. He was one of the most influential Black political figures since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. His historic presidential runs in 1984 and 1988, though unsuccessful, propelled him onto the national stage and inspired a new generation of political leaders, particularly Black political leaders.
Jotaka Eaddy, #WinWithBlackWomen’s founder, recalled Jackson visiting her hometown as a child in Johnsonville, South Carolina, to stand in solidarity with striking workers and advocate for better wages. That experience inspired her to pursue a life and career in advocacy.
His slogan, “I am somebody,” resonated with her.
“I had the honor of engaging and working with him and seeing him up close and personal in his advocacy,” Eaddy told The TRiiBE. “The fact that he was a child of South Carolina, he always reminded everyone of his roots of being from South Carolina, his humble beginnings. He was someone who had went all around the world, but always remembered to keep the people at the center.”
The four-plus-hour service was officiated by the Rev. James T. Meeks, Pastor Emeritus of Salem Baptist Church and the Rev. Charles Jenkins, Pastor Emeritus of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church of Chicago, the Jackson family’s home church.
Dignitaries in attendance included former Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton; former first lady Dr. Jill Biden; U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Vice President Kamala Harris; Gov. J.B. Pritzker; Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; Mayor Brandon Johnson; Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle; Cook County Commissioners Tara Stamps and Bill Lowry; Alders Desmon Yancy (5th Ward), Michelle Harris (8th Ward), Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), David Moore (17th Ward), Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward), Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward), Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) and Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward); former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and more.
NBA Hall of Famer and Chicago native, Isiah Thomas, the Rev. Al Sharpton, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute; Colombian President Gustavo Petro; U.S. Reps. Chuy Garcia, Maxine Waters, the Rev. Dr. Pastor Jamal Bryant were also among several speakers who reflected on Jackson’s legacy, and offered words of encouragement and messages of hope.
When filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry entered the sanctuary, the crowd cheered and gave him rousing applause.
The service began with prayer and scripture from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, read by Jackson’s grandsons, Matthias and Atticus. Next were prayers from the Rev. Dr. Michael Pfleger, Rabbi Sharon Brous and the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III. Each religious leader praised Jackson’s commitment to justice and uplifting the lived experiences of the oppressed. They also spoke to the moment — immigration enforcement, cuts to food assistance, the callousness of public discourse — and issued a call to action to continue Jackson’s work.
“May we honor him by daring to keep hope alive?” Moss said. “May we honor him by daring to speak truth to power? May we honor him by daring to call out corruption, moral malfeasance, political narcissism, autocratic action, authoritarian behavior and cult-like oligarch spirits masquerading as civic duty. May we honor him by daring to be a people united to save humanity.”
Following prayers, a series of speakers took the stage: They included Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Pastor Steve Munsey, Judge Greg Mathis, Pritzker, Johnson and Yusef Jackson, Jackson’s youngest son, a lawyer and businessman who is now the CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Munsey, who leads the Family Christian Center in Munster, Indiana, told attendees, “Don’t ever forget there’s a Jackie Jackson,” referring to Jackson’s wife Jacqueline L. Jackson, to whom he was married for 64 years. That comment led audience members to give Jackson’s widow a standing ovation.
Pritzker told the crowd: “Jesse Jackson was an ambassador for the oppressed, who met with kings and queens, presidents and dictators and clergy of all great religions, but here in Chicago, he was our neighbor … he was our neighbor.”
Jackson joined the Civil Rights Movement by becoming an organizer with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the late 1960s. He was appointed by King to lead Operation Breadbasket in Chicago, a branch of the SCLC launched in 1966 to improve economic conditions for Black people.
Operation Breadbasket later evolved into the People United to Serve Humanity (Operation PUSH) before becoming the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 1996. The organization still focuses on economic justice and political advocacy today.
Jackson will be remembered as an oratory champion, brilliant strategist, a master negotiator, and an organizing savant, according to Johnson: “He didn’t shy away from the painful realities of racism and hatred, but he had a God-given ability to bring people in, to encourage them in, and to enlist them into the fight of our collective liberation.”
During his remarks, Obama highlighted Jackson’s humble beginnings and legacy as a civil rights leader.
“He invited us to believe in our own power to change America for the better,” Obama said. He added that Jackson rose above despair, having grown up in the Jim Crow South, and that he redeemed the soul of America through his work.
In 1983, Jackson announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. president. He became the second Black person, after U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972, to run for a major party nomination in a presidential race.
Obama emphasized one of Jackson’s most important contributions to the Democratic Party — changing how delegates are counted. Jackson pushed to reform Democratic Party delegate rules, replacing winner-take-all primaries with proportional allocation. This created the system that allowed Barack Obama to outpace Hillary Clinton in delegates and win the 2008 nomination.
“It was because of that path that he had laid because of his courage, his audacity, that two decades later, a young Black senator from Chicago’s South Side would even be taken seriously as a candidate for the presidential nomination,” Obama said, referring to Jackson.
This rules change was crucial in helping Obama secure enough delegates to win the Democratic Party nomination in 2008.
Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony-award-winning singer, actress and South Side native Jennifer Hudson gave a powerful rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
As did several speakers, Clinton implored attendees to figure out what more they can do in the spirit of Jackson.
Friday’s memorial follows a week of services hosted at Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition and his home state of South Carolina, where his body lay in state at the South Carolina statehouse.
A door opener': Jackson's enduring impact on Black women in politics
Black women are deeply tethered to Jackson’s legacy. He is credited with uplifting them, encouraging them to run for office and inspiring them to pursue careers in both politics and social justice. In fact, logistics for a multistate and multiple memorial services were managed by Black-owned event and communications firms, according to public affairs strategist and APS & Associates founder Alexandra Sims-Jones.
“It’s really powerful to bring together a bunch of [Black] firms and Black women. We all speak the same language,” Sims-Jones said. “We all honor Reverend. Women are organized. We know what we’re doing. So that part is really fun.”
The other Black-owned firms tasked with managing memorial services and events include Merry Green, Rise Strategy Group, Irving Street Rep and Rosemark Productions.
It’s a full-circle moment for Sims-Jones to have the responsibility to help organize and work alongside the Jackson family. Sims-Jones’ father, a member of Omega Psi Phi like Jackson, volunteered on his 1988 presidential campaign.
“What I’m getting to experience while putting the event together is just how far and wide Rev. Jackson’s relationships went,” Sims-Jones said. “Obviously, he was a global leader, and people who are coming into Chicago for this celebration are from all over the world.”
Karen Finney, a political consultant and former spokeswoman for Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, fondly remembers Jackson speaking during an assembly at her high school in California.
“There are not enough words to describe what that feeling was. Here I am, all these years later, that stayed with me,” Finney said. “It made me kind of sit up a little taller and be inspired.”
Glenda Glover grew up in Tennessee and met the Rev. Jesse Jackson and King in 1968 during the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, where her father was a supervisor. Jackson, decades later, would be her self-appointed senior advisor when she served as president at Tennessee State University, a historically Black college.
“He fought for Black colleges,” Glover said. ”And he tried to get money for Black colleges. He had a love for HBCUs.”
Tanya Lombard’s earliest memory of Jackson dates to the 1990s, when she was working as a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs under President Bill Clinton. Lombard said Jackson was “incredibly focused on everyone’s aspirations. He was what I would refer to as a door opener.”
Jackson, through his life and career, demonstrated possibilities, according to Tina Flournoy, a political advisor and former chief of staff to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“He always had a vision, and his vision was to make life better for people to open up the doors of opportunity, but also justice,” Flournoy said. “If you were born in the Deep South like us it was segregated. There was not an idea, necessarily, that you were gonna have the opportunity to achieve the things that you sometimes saw around you.”
Harris echoed their sentiments and added that Jackson was instrumental in positioning women, specifically Black women, for power.
“The women leaders he elevated, like the self-described ‘colored girls,’ have been a driving force behind so many campaigns that have been about freedom and justice,” Harris said about this cohort of women who include Flournoy, the Rev. Leah Daughtry, political strategists Donna Brazile and Yolanda Caraway and 2024 Democratic Convention Chair Minyon Moore.
Toward the four-hour mark of the service, Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Le’Andria Johnson took the stage and led the song “We Shall Overcome.”
A son's tribute: Jr. calls his father's legacy psychological, not just political
Jesse Jackson Jr., Jackson’s oldest son, was the last speaker of the day. The former congressman, who is currently running for the Illinois second congressional seat, talked about how his father’s work restored hope and compelled people to take action.
“He took the ministry from Sunday morning, and he delivered it to the people. ‘I am somebody!’ That is what Jesse Jackson is known for, not the ’84 and ’88 campaign and not just voter registration,” Jackson Jr. said. “Jesse Jackson’s greatest contribution is not political, it is psychological. Negro, you are better off today than you were when you met this Negro.”
Jackson’s service concluded just before 5 p.m., while Pastor Marvin Sapp and the Legacy Mass Choir sang the gospel classic “Never Would Have Made It.”
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s final service is private and will be held Saturday at Rainbow PUSH’s headquarters in the Kenwood community.
