Thousands gather to celebrate the life of Rev. Jesse Jackson at Chicago funeral: Live updates

During an international tribute to Rev. Jackson in the Loop Thursday evening, former U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez recalled the work the civil rights leader did to free him and two other soldiers from captivity during the Kosovo War.

It was toward the end of President Clinton’s second term in office. He, Staff Sgt. Christopher Stone and Specialist Steven Gonzales were ambushed and captured March 31, 1999, by Serbian soldiers while they were on a routine NATO observation patrol near the Macedonian-Yugoslav border.

“During that time, we still didn’t know what was going on but ultimately felt like they were going to just kill us,” Ramirez told several international dignitaries during the event.

But one day, the Serbian soldiers told the hostages they were being taken to a “nicer prison.” Ramirez recalled his hood being pulled off after walking through a doorway. He saw more TV cameras then turned left and saw Jackson with an interfaith delegation.

Jackson was leading an ecumenical delegation, along with then-U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, to negotiate the release of the three soldiers. Clinton advised against the trip, but Jackson persisted — and succeeded.

Clinton later honored Jackson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.

“I always have been very grateful for what he did, what he put himself through and the delegation of people that went with him,” Ramirez said. “The path of life would’ve been very different depending on what happened at that point.”

Former President Bill Clinton said he wanted to be highly personal. He met Jackson at an anniversary celebrating the integration of Central High School in Little Rock.

“I came to truly love Jesse Jackson,” Clinton said. “We both had more in common than we thought. We were two guys born to single mothers, living in the South.”

“He was my friend when I needed him,” Clinton told the crowd.

In a fiery speech, Rev. Al Sharpton said the country is “sitting on the brink of some of the most serious reconstruction behavior being rescinded that we’ve seen in modern times.” And he told the audience, “Don’t sit here so holy and sanctified and act like you have no assignment yourself.”

“To leave here not following the assignment would not be what Jesse Jackson taught us. To make us feel good, we went to Jesse Jackson. But people at the same time are killing illegal immigrants. People at the same time are cutting public funding. At the same time, the Affordable Care Act is not being renewed and seniors have to deal with premiums,” Sharpton said.

Sharpton said the Jackson family “planted a platform that led to an empowerment.”

He said they “went against the southern bigots in the overalls,” but now, “We’re dealing with manicured Fifth Avenue bigots.”

He also offered a critique for those who didn’t support Kamala Harris as president in 2024: “There was a breakout in 2024 called ‘Negro amnesia,’” Sharpton said appearing to refer to Black folks forgetting where they came from.

“The problem is not Trump, the problem is us,” he said. “We are allowing ourselves to be lowered. And our children to be inferior,” Sharpton said.

“What happened to us?” Rev. Al Sharpton asked with indignation.

“We should do what Jesse Jackson did. Not look at what you can see. But at what you can believe even if you can’t see. We gotta win … we didn’t come this far to turn around now.”

Sharpton said he wants the audience to “leave here with some Jackson fire in you.” He said America is celebrating its 250th anniversary, “but we were not free in 1776.”

Rev. Sharpton endend his speech to loud applause by chanting, “We won’t go back! We won’t go back!”

Biden often evokes the grief he experienced in the painful losses of his wife and young daughter in 1992 and his son Beau to cancer in 2015. He mentioned those losses several times in his Jackson eulogy.

“It’s not easy, no matter how much you loved them and how close you were. So I just like to express my deep sympathy,” Biden said to begin his address.

The former president talked about “losing so many people in my family,” but also offered up a bit of hope about the stages of grief.

“The day will come when his memory brings a smile to your lips before bringing a tear to your eye,” Biden said. “It will come. It will come. And my prayer to you is that it comes sooner than later.”

Former President Joe Biden also offered up a rebuke to the Trump administration.

“We’re in a tough spot folks. We’ve got an administration that doesn’t share any of the values that we have,” Biden said. “And I don’t think I’m exaggerating a little bit.”

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

As former President Joe Biden took the stage, he joked, “That clock is wrong.” The crowd laughed.

The clock read a few minutes past 2 p.m., which was when the event was supposed to end.

Biden described Jesse Jackson as “underrated, undeterred and unafraid.”

“We had very different backgrounds, and in some cases different views, but never on race,” he said. “Sometimes we went toe-to-toe and disagreed about issues. But that’s what I admired most about Jesse: his passion. The courage of his convictions.”

At the end of his nearly 30-minute eulogy, Obama took a turn and offered up a pointed critique of the Trump administration. He said Americans are living in hard times and “it’s hard to hope,” with each day bringing “some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common needs.”

“Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible. Each day we’re told … to fear each other, to turn on each other and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count at all,” Obama said. “Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength. We see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards every day.”

Obama said it’s “tempting for some to compromise with power,” or to simply put your head down.

“But this man,” Obama said pointing to Jackson’s casket, “Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path. His voice called on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, ‘Send me wherever we have a chance to make an impact, whether it’s in our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our cities, not for faith, not for glory or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose.’”

Following on the heels of former President Barack Obama, Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native from the Englewood community on the South Side, belts out the civil rights anthem “A Change is Gonna Come.”

Much of the crowd rose to its feet as the EGOT-winner performed.

“That girl can sing,” said one member of the crowd.

Former President Barack Obama mentioned the “Joshua Generation” in his remarks at Jackson’s service — a reference I’ve heard Obama often use through the years.

But I heard it for the first time when Obama used it in a speech on March 4, 2007 from the pulpit of the historic Brown Chaple A.M.E. church in Selma, Alabama. It was during the Democratic presidential primary, and chief rival Hillary Clinton was also speaking in town that day, in another church a few blocks away.

In the context of the civil rights movement, the early fighters for equality were part of the Moses generation. They eventually passed the baton – to the Joshua generation, whose ranks, said Obama, include himself.

As Obama said that day in 2007, “I’m here because somebody marched. I’m here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we’ve got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn’t cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You’ll see it. You’ll be at the mountain top and you can see what I’ve promised. What I’ve promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I’ve fulfilled that promise but you won’t go there. We’re going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens..”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is noticeably absent from the Chicago ceremony, with former President Barack Obama seated next to former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Jill Biden.

Last year Michelle Obama missed the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter and the second inauguration of President Trump, with former President Obama attending both events alone. Her absence from the Carter funeral even sparked false rumors about a pending divorce.

Michelle Obama tried to clear the air in an April 2025 podcast with the actress Sophia Bush, telling her people “couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”

“I chose to do what’s best for me, not what I had to do,” she said about skipping an event last year.

A spokesperson for Michelle Obama did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her absence.

Obama said that in these times, when democracy and decency are assaulted daily, Jackson reminds us of our American duty: “If we don’t step up, no one else will.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Over at Hyde Park Hair Salon, longtime barber A.C. Chandler spent the day reminiscing about events with Rainbow PUSH and about the salon’s time cutting the hair of Jesse Jackson Jr. and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson.

The hair salon, which famously counts former President Barack Obama as a one-time client, streamed the Friday services on both televisions at the salon.

“Everybody has been watching all day,” Chandler, 46, said.

He and his client, Arthur Dennis, spent the appointment pointing out people they knew at the funeral.

“We were just talking about people that we know within our circle that’s either active members involved in or part of the Rainbow PUSH coalition,” Chandler said.

Dennis, a current member of PUSH, said the homegoing celebration was necessary.

“But also, I think with any celebration of life. … It’s about what do you do now? If Jesse Jackson was about solidarity, how are we showing that in our everyday lives?” Dennis, 33, asked. “Because it’s one thing to show up for a day, but how do you show up for a lifetime?”

Obama talks about watching Jackson’s first presidential debate in 1984 in his New York apartment as a poor college kid. He said that first presidential campaign and Mayor Harold Washington’s campaign for mayor inspired him and ultimately drew him to Chicago.

“When that debate was over, I turned off that TV, and I thought the same thing that I know a lot of people thought, even if they didn’t want to admit it. That in his idea, and his platform, in his analysis, in his intelligence, in his insight, Jesse hadn’t just held his own. He had owned that stage,” Obama said. “He wasn’t an intruder, he wasn’t a pretender. He belonged on that stage. And the message he sent, to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that there wasn’t any place, any room, where we didn’t belong.”

“It’s good to be home,” former President Barack Obama said shortly after taking the stage. A sea of cell phones could be seen recording his words, as attendees gave him a standing ovation.

He then compared Jackson to the prophet Isaiah.

Jackson was “a man who, when the poor and the dispossessed needed a champion and the country needed healing, stepped forward again and again and again and said, ‘Send me.’”

Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., was 11 years old when he heard Rev. Jackson’s speech at the 1984 Democratic Party convention. He told the Sun-Times it had a profound impact on him.

“I’m a racial religious ethnic minority immigrant with 29 letters in my name. I’m especially sensitive to anybody being otherized and he was the eternal champion for the poor, the immigrant, the person who’s disinherited and disenfranchised,” Krishnamoorthi said.

The current candidate for Sen. Dick Durbin’s soon-to-be open seat added, “And I felt that he saw in me something that I didn’t see in myself when he said that.”

NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas drew people to their feet when he acknowledged who, he said, were the five presidents in attendance: Kamala Harris, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

But it also was a bittersweet reference. Like Jackson’s two historic but unsuccessful White House runs, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris never reached the promised land.

He recalled growing up in the 1960s in Chicago, listing fallen civil rights heroes such as Medgar Evers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

He went on to call Rev. Jackson, “Our Nelson Mandela.”

“When society was telling me I was a nobody, when society was telling me we don’t even want to go to school with you, this man walked up to me and my mom … and then he did the unthinkable,” he said. “Mama Jackson, your husband kneeled down, and he looked me in the eyes, and that man said, ‘You are somebody.’”

Thomas wept recalling how Jackson comforted his family when his mother died.

“When we were at our lowest,” he said, “he lifted us up on those broad shoulders.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson, a West Side resident, jokingly chided the Jackson family about the lack of West Side representation on the program.

He then shared a story about a conversation he once had where the Rev. Jackson claimed he was a better quarterback than the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

“You know I played that position,” he said Jackson told him. “I was better because of my instincts.”

Johnson added, “It was his instincts that understood that labor and faith were one and the same as Dr. King prophesied. It was his instincts to stand up against school closures and the shuttering of mental health clinics. It was his instincts that led protests down Michigan Avenue when a boy’s life was taken by a police officer and the government tried to cover it up,” Johnson said.

“It was his instincts to run in ‘84 and ‘88 but not in ‘92 to make way for somebody in the deep South and a brother on the South Side to become president of the United States,” he said referring to former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

You will see him again,” Mayor Johnson promised Jackson’s widow Jackie. “That’s not a promise from a politician, but the Word.”

“Reverend Mayor Brandon Johnson!” Rev. James Meeks said after Johnson concluded his remarks, which were reminiscent of a Baptist sermon.

The crowd reflects the rainbow coalition Jackson strived to build … while mostly Black, the audience is a sea of different shades of all colors among luminaries and everyday folks.

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” Gov. JB Pritzker said, quoting the Bible. “For Rev. Jesse Jackson each day was a new opportunity to bring justice in a too-often unjust world. His ambition was to shape a world where justice was not an anomaly, but a constant.”

“Jesse Jackson was an ambassador of hope for the oppressed, who met with kings and queens and presidents and dictators and clergy of all the great religions,” Pritzker said. “But here in Chicago, he was our neighbor. He was our friend. We were so proud. We are so proud.”

Pritzker said that “even as his body started to fail him, the reverend’s mind remained sharp.”

He added: “While we shared him with the world, Rev. Jackson belonged to Chicago, and Chicago belonged to him.”

Yusef Jackson recalled his father’s legacy, saying his father spent his last months urging him to mobilize churches to feed those who temporarily lost food assistance during a historic government shutdown that froze benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“I intend to die with my shoes on,” he recalled his father saying.

Yusef Jackson ends his message to the crowd by recalling his father’s famous words: “Keep hope alive.”

The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“He was maladjusted to injustice,” Yusef Jackson said Martin Luther King said about his father.

Yusef Jackson said his father was always aligned to the moral center. “It’s not about the left wing or the right wing. It takes two wings to fly.”

Jackson’s son Yusef invoked Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, both slain at 39.

“He never thought he would live so long,” said Yusef Jackson.

Rabbi Steven Jacobs is connecting well with the audience, drawing laughter, applause and shouts of “preach” from the crowd.

At one point he told a joke, that when Jackson arrived at the Pearly Gates, God said, “Oh my God, you’re Jesse Jackson! You are somebody!”

“He’s the wisest man any of us have ever known, no doubt,” said Judge Greg Mathis, whose “Judge Mathis” courtroom television series was filmed at NBC Tower in downtown Chicago for its entire 24-year run.

Mathis is Jackson’s godson, and was present in South Carolina earlier this week.

You will hear great inspirational speeches today at the Jackson funeral, especially from former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, whose words are always powerful.

But let’s remember that Jackson is also the gold standard when it comes to speaking, from sermons to political speeches, not that there was always much of a difference.

I just re-read Jackson’s Democratic Convention Speech he delivered on July 18, 1984, during his first White House run.

From the reverend himself … describing his flock, apt words in these chaotic times when the continuation of our democracy as we know it is on the line:

“My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised. They are restless and seek relief. They’ve voted in record numbers. They have invested faith, hope and trust that they have in us. The Democratic Party must send them a signal that we care. I pledge my best to not let them down.

“Leadership must heed the call of conscience, redemption, expansion, healing and unity, for they are the key to achieving our mission. Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders can change things.”

And Jackson’s message to young America is worth repeating today: “Exercise the right to dream. You must face reality, that which is. But then dream of a reality that ought to be, that must be. Live beyond the pain of reality with the dream of a bright tomorrow.”

Scrambled eggs, grits and sausage patties were Rev. Jesse Jackson’s regular order at Hyde Park’s Valois Restaurant. He’d sit at the fifth table on the right, without fail. Jackson was a loyal customer, sometimes coming in twice a day, for over 40 years.

Gianni Colamussi, owner of the popular cafeteria-style restaurant, became friends with Jackson and his family over the years. So streaming Friday’s services on the television at Valois felt like a good way to honor Jackson’s legacy.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“He’s been a real big pinnacle of this area and of the restaurant,” he said. “His bodyguard would sit at the table behind him, and if it was just them two, he would eat in peace.”

During his break, Colamussi parked himself at the closest table to the TV. The restaurant was crowded with regulars at 11:30 a.m., but only he and a visiting friend, John Pitsadiotis, were fixated on the services.

The crowd stood and cheered as Hezekiah Walker sang one of his gospel classics. “Every praise is to our God. Every word of worship is to our God,” he sang.

Urging the crowd on, Walker contined: “One more praise! One more praise!”

After Walker finished, Rev. James T. Meeks returned to the podium and jokingly warned the crowd about keeping the service to three hours.

“That’s how services go too long. ‘One more praise. One more praise,’” Meeks said as the crowd erupted in laughter.

Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, one of the city’s largest Black congregations, brings many in the crowd to its feet with his prayer for Jackson delivered in the thunderous tone for which he has become known.

“We honor the rhetorical genius of a man whose oral dexterity reshaped notions of what is possible,” said Rev. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church in Christ in Chicago. “May we honor him by speaking truth to power. … Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson is now an ancestor, may we be unfair to tap into his ancestral intelligence.”

Rabbi Sharon Brous said, “Our nation can still write a redemption story”

Brous is the founder of IKAR synagogue in Los Angeles. She is a prominent rabbi who, on the second day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, delivered the invocation. She has also spoken at events with ex-Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

A connection to Jackson is through his daughter, Ashley. Ashley is the daughter born to Jackson and Karin Stanford. Brous told the Sun-Times that she is a “mentor and close friend” to Ashley, who “is a close associate of IKAR and a beloved member of our community.”

Brous said she and Jackson “connected meaningfully over the past couple of years, based on their shared commitment to strengthening multifaith partnerships in the spirit of building a more just and loving world.” Jackson attended shabbat services at IKAR in November, 2024.

Said Brous, in their last meeting, Jackson asked her if he could call Brous “his rabbi.”

As former presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama walk into House of Hope, the crowd cheers loudest for Chicago’s own, Barack Obama.

Rabbi Sharon Brous of Los Angeles called Jackson “the man who reminded America that we must never give up on righting the wrongs of the past” and prayed we follow the example of “this moral and spiritual giant.” “Forgiveness is always possible,” she said. “When we lead with love we plant the seeds for a world that will be redeemed with love.”

Just after 11 a.m., the crowd inside House of Hope was joyous with attendees standing and singing along to a choir.

Celebrities, including Tyler Perry and Jennifer Hudson, were among those roaming the floor and rubbing shoulders with prominent Democratic politicians, including Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a presumptive 2028 presidential candidate, is also in attendance at Jackson’s homegoing service. Newsom on Wednesday ordered flags at the state capitol and all state buildings in California to be flown at half-staff in honor of Jackson.

“Rev. Jackson paved the righteous path that we now must walk to fulfill his vision of a better world, and his lifetime of lessons and wisdom leaves us well-prepared to do so,” Newsom said in a statement.

Gov. JB Pritzker, also a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is speaking at Jackson’s service. Both have been at the forefront of combating Trump administration policies.

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

Dorothy Straughter, of Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, had a pink-and-green scarf draped over her shoulders.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the country’s first sorority established for Black women, and estimated that hundreds of her sorority sisters would join Friday’s celebration for the Rev. Jesse Jackson who was a member of Omega Psi Phi, a historically Black fraternity.

“There’s a sisterhood, and then there’s the brotherhood, and together, of course, we are all one,” Straughter said. “We believe in service to all mankind, and we believe if someone is sent to heaven then it’s our duty and responsibility to represent and be part of the process.”

Other members of the Divine Nine were among those in attendance, wearing bags and blazers decorated with their Greek letters.

Straughter said her sorority will keep Rev. Jackson’s legacy alive through their community service efforts.

“I think there’s a lot of things that we have today, rights that we have today that we wouldn’t have if it weren’t for him formulating the legacy that we are all living from now,” she said.

Thomas Finch stood outside Gate 4 proudly wearing his Omega Psi Phi jacket and displaying his large, billboard-sized video screen that will broadcast the services going on inside for those still waiting to enter.

Finch said more than 300 of his fraternity brothers attended a special memorial service the fraternity held Thursday night for Jackson, a member of the Omegas since 1960.

“It’s a significant ritual that we have for fallen brothers, and Rev. Jackson was a very special fallen brother. It was very moving. It was really a celebration. We love him, and his legacy will live on.”

Finch said Jackson stayed close to the fraternity throughout his career. Jackson was initiated at the University of Illinois in 1960. Just two years later, he was elected second vice grand basileus, the fraternity’s highest position for undergrad members, Finch said.

“So his abilities were recognized very early, but he still loved the brothers,” Finch said. “Every time we’d see him, no matter the occasion, he throw up the hooks. And he’d give you a hug.”

“We’re going to pack this place and send him off very well,” Finch said.

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

The Atlanta resident drove a total of about 34 hours to and from South Carolina for Rev. Jackson’s funeral services. And by Friday morning, he was standing outside of House of Hope on the Far South Side selling calendars and a commemorative poster outlining the history of Rev. Jackson’s life.

He designs the posters himself and sells them for $10 each. For Hickman, the history each poster tells is so important that he’s willing to give them away if someone can’t pay.

“I couldn’t go to my local stores and big chains and all that and get our type of information,” Hickman said. “So it’s our job to tell our own stories.”

Rev. Jackson always let Hickman sell his posters at Rainbow PUSH Operation’s building, he said.

“We keep selling, pushing history, keeping hope alive,” he said.

He has a calendar filled with photos and facts ready to commemorate when the Obama Presidential Center opens.

“Just out of law school, 1969,” reflected retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, of how he met Jackson.

“He came down to East St. Louis in a dashiki, with a big afro. It was the 1960s. It was the start of a friendship. He had me on speed dial.”

The celebration of life for Rev. Jackson marks the coming together of hundreds of different political story lines where his giant impact played a role. That is certainly the case when it comes to Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who is vacating her seat to make a Democratic primary run this election cycle for the U.S. Senate.

Kelly won that South Side 2nd District seat after ex-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. stepped down, amid mental health struggles and federal investigations that ultimately led to a guilty plea and prison time for looting his campaign funds. That seat then provided Kelly with the platform to make her Senate bid after Sen. Dick Durbin announced he was retiring.

Things come full circle — Jesse Jr. is now running for Kelly’s seat in a crowded Democratic primary field.

One name that jumps out among the speakers is Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts. If you wonder about the relationship, well, so did we. “The relationship is really rooted around baseball,” said Dennis Culloton, Ricketts’ spokesperson.

“Rev. Jackson is a baseball fan. He really loved coming to Wrigley Field. He loved coming with his family, and Tom would spend some time with him when he came to the games.

“Tom speculates that [Jackson] also felt connected to Wrigley Field because it is the last ball park still standing where Jackie Robinson played.” Robinson was the first African American to play in the MLB in this era when he started for the Dodgers in 1947.

Ricketts comes from a famous Republican family, with the exception being sister Laura, who is a staunch Democrat. But at games, said Culloton, the talk was about baseball — not politics.

The actor and former professional wrestler, who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, said Jackson spoke at Dunbar High School when he was a student there.

“I fell in love with him,” said Mr. T.

Three of the city’s powerful Daley clan, Bill, Richard and John Daley, were all in attendance at the House of Hope on Friday to pay their respects to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“I grew up with him,” said former mayor Richard M. Daley, who was also seen talking with Rev. Al Sharpton.

Candace Dane Owens/Sun-Times

Haywood said younger people need to know about Rev. Jackson’s life to continue his legacy of unity.

“We need to continue the hope,” she said. “We need to continue the whole legacy, mission.”

Before today’s celebration, Rev. Jackson lay in repose for two days at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s headquarters in Kenwood last week. The services drew thousands of people, from across generations, to pay their respects to the civil rights leader.

“He raised a generation of us,” the Rev. Al Sharpton told the press last Thursday. “And he never gave up, even when he was sick.”

Elders recalled Jackson motivating them to pursue their education and to lead by example as they achieved success.

“He said ‘once you get there, don’t forget to look back and bring somebody with you,’” said Jennifer Edwards. “And that was always our motto, to help somebody along the way.”

And young people, like Nadiyah Spikener, said Jackson’s death could lead to an awakening as more young people learn that history.

“This may be a moment to realize that maybe we need to do more for ourselves, and do more for our community like he has, and just start somewhere,” Spikener said.

Volunteers from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition are selling original 1984 presidential campaign pins for $5. Volunteers say they still have a couple hundred pins that the Jackson family had kept in storage.

Elvia Malagón/Chicago Sun-Times

Wearing white gloves, seven men somberly carried in the casket. Jesse Jackson Jr., wearing a pin depicting his father, watched quietly. Family members walked behind the casket, some women dabbing their eyes with tissues.

Neil Steinberg/Chicago Sun-Times

Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times

Hundreds of people waited in the gray chill, the line snaking around the large beige House of Hope center, hours before the doors opened Friday.

A slow crawl of traffic streamed for blocks from the House of Hope down Corliss Ave., snaking onto to 111th Street and the nearby off-ramp on the Bishop Ford expressway. It took some motorists 30 minutes to reach the venue only to find on-site parking lots were full. Some were redirected to the parking lot of a nearby business.

“I’m here to show respect and homage to my leader, Jesse Louis Jackson” said James Bush III, who worked for Operation Push, and flew in from Miami. “A man who has given his life, not only working for Black people, but for the human race.”

Neil Steinberg/Chicago Sun-Times

Benita White Arnold and about 25 other members of East Chicago’s NAACP 3046-B chapter in Indiana were also among those awaiting to enter.

White Arnold said the celebration of life is a moment in history. That’s why she made sure her 15-year-old grandson joined her.

“We got to remember how we got here and fight like hell to move this needle forward,” she said. “We owe this to him.”

The House of Hope arena has about 10,000 seats. Doors open to the public at 9 a.m. Services begin at 11 a.m. The Rev. Charles Jenkins and the Rev. James T. Meeks will be the officiants.

A smaller service at Rainbow PUSH headquarters is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. Performers will include Stevie Wonder. After the Saturday service there will be a procession to Oak Woods Cemetery.

Details on Friday’s homegoing service

For most of his 84 years, Rev. Jesse Jackson powered through so many high places, organizing boycotts, freeing hostages and launching two presidential bids, that it begs remembering he wasn’t born a giant. And despite living most of his life in Chicago, that is not where his story began.

Before he landed in Chicago in his 20s to establish his own power, starting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., activism was something Jackson had to learn from those around him, from mentors and teachers who nurtured and bolstered him and his classmates from Sterling High School, once an institution for Black Greenville.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson comes home to South Carolina, the place that molded the man Chicago knew

Rev. Jesse Jackson died Feb. 17 at age 84. He had been in declining health for a decade. In 2017 he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but last April he revealed it was actually misdiagnosed progressive supranuclear palsy, a condition affecting bodily movements. He stepped down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in July 2023, citing health concerns.

“If the legend of his mentor, Martin Luther King was simplified, almost beatified, by early death — a martyr at 39, an icon who had a dream — then the legacy of his eager protege was complicated by long life,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg. “Rev. Jesse Jackson was in the public eye for six decades, a tireless wielder of social pressure. He was respected and dismissed, inspiring adoration and disdain, a Chicago institution who left footprints on the world stage, an ardent advocate for civil rights whose attempts to wield political power himself were thwarted, and channeled into the power of protest, persuasion and complaint.”

Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and Chicago icon, dead at 84