A public farewell for Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. began Thursday (February 26) in Chicago, where mourners lined up at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters as the civil rights leader lay in repose.
Jackson, a longtime Chicago power broker, protégé of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and two-time presidential candidate, will lie in repose for two days before memorial events continue in Washington, D.C., and in South Carolina, where he was born.
Rev. Al Sharpton, who attended the viewing alongside Jackson’s family and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, said the work Jackson dedicated his life to now falls to the people carrying the torch. “The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
Jackson died at 84 after years of declining health that limited his mobility and speech. His death has been met with tributes nationwide, while Chicago has marked the moment with public memorial displays and messages honoring his legacy, including his longtime mantra: “I am Somebody!”
“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement, per the AP.
Before services began, Jackson’s eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., thanked supporters and urged the country to pause division and reflect on his father’s life and impact.
“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,” Jackson Jr., said. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”
Memorial plans stretch beyond Chicago. A “People’s Celebration” is scheduled for March 6 at House of Hope, followed by private homegoing services on March 7 at Rainbow PUSH.
Jackson will not lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda after his family’s request was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.
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