A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., beginning cross-country memorial services in the city the longtime civil rights leader called home. Family members stood as the casket was brought into the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a stately brick building where flowers lined the sidewalks and an overflow of visitors watched videos of Jackson’s speeches on a large screen.
Jackson, who died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in later years, will lie in repose in Chicago for two days. His family planned for the services to be open to all, with events scheduled next for Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where Jackson was born.
Among those standing by the open casket to greet mourners were Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton spoke to reporters inside the building, telling them, “The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” adding that Dr. King’s dream and Jackson’s mission “now falls on our shoulders.”
As tributes continued from around the world after Jackson’s death, several U.S. states flew flags at half-staff in his honor, according to the report. In Chicago—where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children—bouquets left outside the family’s Tudor-style South Side home accumulated for days, while public school condolences were offered and city trains displayed Jackson’s portrait and his mantra, “I am Somebody!”
Johnson, in a statement, praised Jackson’s “hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago.” The mayor’s remarks framed Jackson’s work as one that advanced causes including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care, and said the next phase of responsibility for those efforts rests with others.
The memorial schedule for Washington and South Carolina has been set up as a sequence of public observances over roughly two weeks, with a final commemoration planned in Chicago at a megachurch. In South Carolina, Jackson is expected to lie in honor at the statehouse, followed by public services; the governor’s participation was described as not yet confirmed by his office. Details for Washington services were not yet made public.
Family members and officials also said Jackson would not lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson. The plan instead calls for events to continue through next week, ending with homegoing services at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters.
Before the services began, Jackson’s eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said the family was “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.” He described the memorial as an opportunity “to lay down some of the political rhetoric” and “some of the division that deeply divides our country,” and to reflect on a man who brought people together.
Inside the auditorium, prayers were offered by several well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, and mourners came across ages and backgrounds, from children in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs. Video clips of Jackson’s appearances at news conferences, on the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” were shown during the services, as community members said they hoped his legacy would endure. Claudette Redic, a retiree in Chicago, said her family had supported Jackson for generations and pointed to how his work had reached into her own life, including a scholarship for her son from a program Jackson championed.