Rev. Jesse Jackson's children share emotional tributes at Rainbow PUSH homegoing
Rev. Jesse Jackson's children gave loving, personal, and often emotional eulogies Saturday at his private homegoing services at the Chicago headquarters of Rainbow PUSH, the social justice organization Jackson founded.
All six of Jackson's children had time to speak or perform during the ceremony. His daughter, Santita, performed a rousing rendition of "My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)" by gospel singer Andrae Crouch.
Jesse Jackson Jr. and Yusuf Jackson Sr. also spoke at the public memorial service, "The People's Celebration," on Friday at House of Hope on the Far South Side of Chicago.
While many of Friday's speeches – three of which were delivered by former U.S. presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton – focused on Jackson's legacy of civil rights work, political campaigns and advocacy, and cultural impact, the Jackson children took their time Saturday to give a glimpse into not just the life of a towering icon but of a man they called "dad."
"He taught us that every child deserves a strong foundation, a loving mother and a family, a welcoming church, a close-knit neighborhood with resources and opportunity," his son Yusuf Jackson Sr. said. "He lived that belief."
"It was hard to visit my father, even in his illness, and not leave feeling better about yourself," he added.
U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson reflected on his father's immense legacy in the political world, but also shared that when he was young, Rev. Jackson's political activism and constant protesting were a source of embarrassment for him.
"I was embarrassed as a child to see my father protesting and boycotting week after week," he said. "I didn't understand economic exclusion and the fight for economic inclusion. I didn't know what was happening in South Africa, in apartheid. I didn't understand. I'm not going to lie to you. It was a great source of pain for me to hear people talk about my father. But let me tell you what: that was only because I was a child."
"I'm proud to say that my father was my friend, my hero, my pastor, my confidant, my biggest cheerleader, my political advisor," Jonathan Jackson continued. "When I was at my worst, I saw a man at his best, and I'm proud to call him my father."
His youngest daughter, Ashley Jackson, recalled taking a road trip with her father through the American South back to the house where he was born in South Carolina, during which he taught her the history of the Civil Rights Movement and shared the sites of his own personal history with her. She spoke of how all of their activities weren't just opportunities to bond as father and daughter, but for him to teach her more about his roots and the roots of the fight for equality in America.
"Today, I am standing here as his daughter, the baby of the family, bereft and amazed and so deeply grateful that enough of his love was poured into me across 26 years that I know I will never run out," she said. "Dad, I love you in every lifetime, and until we meet again, I'll find you in the rainbows."
His daughter, Dr. Jaqueline Jackson II, an author and peace activist, spoke about how her father helped her with learning, writing, reading, and math as a child who struggled in school, and how he was always attentive to her introverted nature at church and at home.
She described a very close relationship with Rev. Jackson that persisted as his health failed, and she helped her mother meet the new challenges with his physical state.
"I share all this with you, in closing, to highlight my own awareness of my father's impact on me as a child," she said, "when he lay his own hand to write and coach my own relationship beyond my interior life, into the larger exterior world, through learning the alphabet and numbers and while heightening my observation of details, I came to realize that our roles had indeed reversed, and all that he taught me as a child were the tools that I used to help him."
"In the end," she concluded, "it came down not to the tools but simply the love for someone whose love could never be repaid. God bless you, Daddy."
Jesse Jackson, Jr., was overcome by emotions as he spoke, recounting the history of his mother and father meeting more than 60 years ago, about what it was like to bear his father's name as he launched his own political career, and about how his father helped him and loved him during his fall from political grace and a conviction for campaign fraud.
"I remember when Daddy would come visit me in prison, and I would think about all of the people my daddy could save. And he came to visit me one day and I said, 'Daddy, do you think you can get me out of here?'" he recalled. "He said, 'I'm trying son, but don't give up. Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it.'"
"I am grateful to each of the iterations of Jesse Jackson that are represented here today because we've seen you, and you, and you, and you have lifted this family and allowed us the great privilege of representing you," Jackson Jr. said through tears as he concluded his eulogy. ""I am grateful to all of you on behalf of our family. Rise, Jesse, rise!"