Politics

Crowds of Mourners Line Up for Memorial Services for Jesse Jackson in Chicago

CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large video screen playing excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

The casket with Reverend Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

Arnetta Stone, 82, of Auburn Gresham, and her daughter Contonia Stone-Wooten, 64, were among those who paid their respects Thursday.

Stone remembers attending Operation Breadbasket and Operation PUSH events since the 1960s — rallying for housing, better living conditions, transportation and addressing food insecurity. While Stone never met Jackson personally, she said she would attend “anything that Rev. Jackson asks me to come to.”

From left: Contonia Stone-Wooten and her mother, Arnetta Stone, were among those paying their respects Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)

Operation Breadbasket and Operation PUSH were the precursors of what would ultimately become the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Stone-Wooten said her mother would take her to those rallies and protests as a kid. Stone-Wooten recalled Jackson visiting South Shore High School, where she attended high school, in the 1970s.

“He had us all stand up to say, ‘I am somebody,’” Stone-Wooten said. “I’ve always kept that as a mantra in my life. When I had some dark days, I just thought about, ‘I Am Somebody,' that speech."

Stone-Wooten said she wanted to pay her respects to Jackson and all he did for humanity, working class people and the fight against injustice. Stone and Stone-Wooten arrived at Rainbow PUSH headquarters at 10 a.m. Thursday and waited in line for an hour and a half.

“I’m just happy that I was strong enough to stand and wait in the long line and it was my pleasure to be out here — just however long it took to see him one last time,” Stone said.

Two tables were set up with Rev. Jesse Jackson memorabilia near the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)

By 11 a.m., the line stretched down Drexel Boulevard from 50th Street to 49th Street, along barricades in front of Rainbow PUSH headquarters. Two tables were set up nearby with Jackson memorabilia for purchase, such as pins, shirts and calendars.

Aamir Barett, 11, was among a group of students at Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Academy of Social Justice who attended the service.

“Jesse Jackson is the reason we have Barack Obama as our first Black president. … He also helped us with the Civil Rights Movement,” Aamir said. “We have to carry on his legacy because he helped Black people have freedom.”

Since Jackson’s death, remembrances have poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

Oster Bryan, 46, came with a group from Queens, New York, to pay respects. Bryan is president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Queens. He said one of Jackson’s most lasting effects is helping Black entrepreneurs, which in turn helped create more opportunities for Black franchise owners.

Bryan also pointed to Jackson’s work of desegregating public libraries, working with King and ultimately setting the stage for President Barack Obama to run for president.

“We’ve lost a giant,” Bryan said, “and this is not a mourning more than it is a celebration of life.”

People wait to enter the security check point for the public visitation for Reverend Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

Jackson’s death has been felt strongly in Chicago, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Reverend Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

“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.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

“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,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “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.”

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