Mourners pay respects to Rev. Jesse Jackson as funeral, memorial services begin

Thousands turned out on Thursday to honor the late Rev. Jesse Jackson as his casket lay in repose at Rainbow PUSH Headquarters, in the first of a series of memorial services over the next several days.

A procession Thursday morning brought Jackson's casket from the Leak & Sons funeral home in the Grand Crossing neighborhood to Rainbow PUSH Headquarters in Kenwood, where Jackson will lie in repose on Thursday and Friday.

Before the doors opened, Jackson's son, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., spoke outside Rainbow PUSH — flanked by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

"This is a personal trip for me," Sharpton said. "He mentored me and a whole generation, and we're going to keep the fight going."

Jackson Jr. spoke as hundreds lined up outside Rainbow PUSH Headquarters to pay their respects to his father.

"We see 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," said Jackson Jr. "People that are lining up by the hundreds, just to say thank you to a man who didn't ask for much; a man who lived essentially a simple life, but opened up his heart is carrying his concern for all of humanity."

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was also in attendance at Rainbow PUSH.

"Reverend Jackson meant so much to the people of the globe, but to me personally, he was a mentor and a friend and a brother, and he will be forever missed, and I'm grateful for his life and his legacy and the transformation that he has brought to the globe," Johnson said.

Mourners from around the world honor late civil rights icon

Meanwhile, numerous everyday Chicagoans and mourners from around the world turned out to pay their respects to Jackson.

Chicago native and retired Chicago Transit Authority employee Irvin Clay turned out in front of A.R. Leak to see the Rev. Jackson's body along the procession route. He emphasized how much Rev. Jackson meant to him personally.

"As I was a young child, my father, he always went to Operation PUSH and the Breadbasket. I had a chance to work with my father at Campbell's Soup. [Jackson] came out there and supported us at Campbell's Soup, and then I got a chance, when I went to high school, he came and supported us when we had the race riots going on out there at Gage Park High School. He came up to CTA when I worked at CTA, supported us, and he's been in my life since I was a child," Clay said. "I just want to show my appreciation to the family that he helped us out a lot."

Also along the procession route was a woman who got to know Rev. Jackson when he first started Operation PUSH. The 77-year-old Hyde Park resident said she was raised at 1119 E. Hyde Park Blvd., off University Avenue on the northern edge of the Hyde Park neighborhood and just down the street from Rainbow PUSH.

"My favorite memory is when my mom got up on Saturday morning, trying make us go with her to PUSH," the woman said.

Curtis Lawrence also came out to honor Rev. Jackson. Lawrence is a longtime print journalist who most recently worked as senior editor of investigations for Block Club Chicago, and also taught journalism at Columbia College Chicago.

"I think there's very few Chicagoans — and [Jackson] always will be a true Chicagoan — who had the impact on not only the city, but the nation and the world that he did. I have memories of him as being a kid growing up in Chicago. I was 11 or 12 when he came to my church on the South Side of Chicago to talk about the grocery store boycotts," Lawrence said, "and fast-forward years later, I've been a longtime journalist here. I had the privilege of covering him, and even when I traveled with him or interviewed him, I always felt like I was like that little 12-year-old, impressed with the man who told everybody that they too could be somebody." 

James Hickman of Bent Publishing sold posters filled with photos of Rev. Jackson and a timeline of the reverend's life, titled "Jesse Jackson: Voice of Justice." Hickman printed 5,000 copies of the poster, and expected to sell out by Friday.

"We need, you know, the education, because you know, they've taken a lot of stuff away from the schools and stuff like that — DEI," Hickman said, "and it's important to keep, you know, you can't just go get history and education in a lot of different places."

Hickman said he has sold his educational materials outside Rainbow PUSH before, with permission from the Jackson family.

The first person in a long line outside Rainbow PUSH was up at 4 a.m.

"I wanted to be a part of history," said Marcus Jones, of Calumet City. "It was an honor to be in his presence."

One by one, members of the Jackson family thanked those who came out to pay respects to the late Rev. Jackson.

"It's hard. It's a hard day. This is the first day that my mother has seen my father since we delivered him to Leak & Sons, but she has amazing strength, and it is her strength that propelled his ministry, that propels our faith," said his son, Jesse Jackson Jr.

Making history as Jackson did was a common theme, drawing people from all over the country.

"Came from Brevard County, space shuttle area. Flew in yesterday, and I fly back out at 4:45 this afternoon. Wanted to be a part of history," said one woman from Florida.

Octavious Woodley, a paraprofessional at EPIC Academy, brought some of the charter school's high school students to Rainbow PUSH on Thursday.

"We wanted to have the kids have an experience where they can be a part of history instead of just watching history," he said.

Rev. Jackson's admirers sought to inspire the next generation of leaders.

"You get to experience and see, you know, an activist that was actually here in recent times," freshman Lanyla Henderson said.

A steady stream of mourners continued to stop by throughout the day, even as night fell.

Brendan White, an Australian immigrant, was among the thousands who made it a point to stop by to pay their respects to Jackson.

"I just feel like he was an important person in American history, particularly with the Black community, but he had an international resonance as well," White said. "I came by this building a year ago. I just saw the size and wondered what it was and knocked on the door. They told me it was Jesse Jackson's building, and when I heard that he'd died, I just wanted to come back and pay my respects."

Carolyn Dunbar said seeing Jackson lying in repose at the headquarters of the civil rights organization he founded, with a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. looking down on him, made her heart melt.

"He left a torch with Reverend Jackson, and Reverend Jackson throughout these past 40 years or so has carried that torch. I'm thinking 'Who is going to pick up the torch?'" she said.

Resting in power at Rainbow PUSH

Founded in the early 1970s as Operation PUSH, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition grew from a local organizing effort into a national platform for  civil rights, economic justice, and political mobilization. From the very building where Jackson will lie in repose, he led voter registration drives, advocated for corporate accountability, and pushed for greater access to education and employment opportunities.

It was also from Rainbow PUSH that Jackson helped expand the idea of a rainbow coalition — uniting people across race, class, and political lines around shared economic interests.

Jackson's political campaigns in 1984 and 1988 were organized through the PUSH network, proving that a civil rights organization could also become a national political force.

For many in Chicago, weekly gatherings at Rainbow PUSH became a forum where local concerns met national attention.

"For generations, children and adults will hear the words, 'Keep hope alive,' hear the words, 'I am somebody,'" said the Rev. Michael Pfleger of Chicago's St. Sabina Church. "He took the phrase keep hope alive and made it tangible."

Doors were to open at Rainbow PUSH at 10 a.m., and organizers expect a steady stream of people throughout the day.

For decades, Rainbow PUSH Headquarters amplified Rev. Jackson's voice. It now becomes a place for reflection for a movement that stretched far beyond the walls of the physical building.

Honors for Rev. Jackson planned for South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

The Jackson family said they shared him with the world and in return, the world became a part of their extended family. This is evident too in what will unfold over the next week.

After a couple of days here in Chicago, there will be services held for Jackson in South Carolina and Washington, D.C. before his funeral will take place back in Chicago at the end of next week.

The Jackson family wanted to make sure their patriarch, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, returned to his roots on the East Coast.

Jackson played football at Sterling High School in Greenville, and famously protested library segregation with a group known as the Greenville Eight.

Jackson's loved ones made a formal request to South Carolina lawmakers that he lie in repose at the state capitol in Columbia. That request was granted Monday, March 2, with a private, then public service — including a wreath-laying — planned at the statehouse rotunda.

A church service is scheduled for that evening in West Columbia, South Carolina.

Details have not yet been released on how Rev. Jackson will be honored in Washington, D.C.

Rev. Jesse Jackson funeral and celebration of life services schedule 

• Thursday, Feb. 26 and Friday, Feb. 27: Lying in State at Rainbow PUSH Coalition, 930 E. 50th St., Chicago, 10 a.m.
• Sunday, March 1 – Thursday, March 5: Travel dates for formal services in South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
• Monday, March 2 – Jackson will lie in repose at the South Carolina Statehouse. Following a small private family ceremony inside the Statehouse, the visitation will be open to the public from 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 6: The People's Celebration at House of Hope, 752 E. 114th St., Chicago Doors Open: 9 a.m., service: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Saturday, March 7: Private Homegoing Celebration at Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Limited capacity.

A spokesperson for the Jackson family said they will share additional details and information for public registration to attend services soon. They will also share a livestream of the services for the public.

The family asks that all flowers and condolence cards be sent to:

Leak & Sons Funeral Home

7838 S. Cottage Grove Ave.

Chicago, IL 60619