Gov. Pritzker: Rev. Jesse Jackson "was a mighty roaring river," but in Chicago "he was our neighbor"
Gov. JB Pritzker delivered a tribute to Rev. Jesse Jackson Friday afternoon at Jackson's memorial service, highlighting in particular his close relationship to the city of Chicago.
Pritzker told mourners that, while 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," in Chicago "he was our neighbor."
Jackson died on Feb. 17 at the age of 84 after being diagnosed with a rare neurological degenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy. He was a towering icon of the Civil Rights Movement, working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. before his assassination, and spent decades in Chicago fighting for equal rights, social and business equity in the city.
Read the full transcript of Pritzker's eulogy at Jesse Jackson's funeral service
Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Justice in a too-often unjust world. For Rev. Jesse Jackson, each day, each day, was a new opportunity to bring justice in a too-often unjust world.
His ambition, the North Star of his advocacy, was to shape a world where justice is not an anomaly but a constant, where fairness and equity and dignity are so ubiquitous in our lives, they simply flow amidst us like water.
Rev. Jackson was at once a mighty roaring river, able to create movements and galvanize masses with his words and his passion, and a gentle brook, able to provide guidance and comfort to the beleaguered and the bereaved.He could lift up and connect with an audience of millions with the same intimacy and fervor that he could with an audience of one. He inspired us not just in his conviction but in his joy, not just in his righteous anger at injustice, but in his boundless love for communion, not just in his words, but in his deeds. He kept hope alive.
Now I find it somewhat difficult to memorialize a man whose presence always looms so large among us, you can still feel his presence in this room with us here at the House of Hope. You can still feel his presence in so many ways. Every day, he would honor us in the way that today we honor him. And you could feel his spirit in the movements for justice that have grown from the seeds that he tilled.
Now, to the world. 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. But here in Chicago, he was our neighbor. He was our friend. We were so proud, we are so proud.
Here, his message of hope was one he offered in a friendly smile to the child playing in front of their home or the tap on the shoulder for the young man looking for just a little bit of encouragement. He taught us to expand our ambitions and dare to imagine a better world and to be kind and decent to one another. He brought enormous pride to the people of this city and this state.And, on a more personal note, it has been an honor that my relatively short time in public office overlapped with Rev. Jackson's long tenure. And let me assure all of those who are here today that, even as his body started to fail him, the reverend's mind remained sharp. He never failed, never failed, to pull me aside at an event to ask about something in the news or offer a word of advice or encouragement. He was politically connected. He knew, he shared an affliction common to all those in this room. He loved the political game all the way to the end. And while we know that we shared him with the whole world, Rev. Jackson belonged to Chicago, and Chicago belonged to him. He was ours and we were his.
"I am somebody." That wasn't just a slogan. It was his credo. It was Jesse's blessing on each of us, on all of us, a pronouncement of pride and accomplishment, pride and determination. It was his reminder of the incredible power that each of us has to lift ourselves up, the gift of dignity in our personhood that God had bestowed upon us, the power that each of us wields that can change the world. "I am somebody."To his beloved wife, Jackie, to his loving children, Santita and Jesse Jr., Jonathan, Yusef, Ashley, Jacqueline, and the entire family, MK and I, and our whole family, grieve with you in your loss. While Rev. Jackson meant so much to the world, you were the world to him. We will forever be grateful for your sacrifice in sharing him with the rest of us.
To honor his legacy, let today be a new beginning, not an ending. Let's follow in his footsteps and be trailblazers and not just pathfinders. Let's bring justice to a too-often unjust world until it rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
May Jesse Jackson's memory be a blessing to us all.