CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� A day after former presidents, sitting governors and local Chicago residents alike attended , the family and friends who knew him best hosted a more intimate gathering Saturday to grieve the civil rights leader at his organization鈥檚 headquarters.
The final memorial service at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition鈥檚 headquarters on the South Side of Chicago included a few hundred attendees, most of whom were family members, allies and confidants. The homegoing served as a capstone to a week of services and a call to action.
In a series of speeches, the late reverend’s children, civil rights leaders and two presidents of African nations said the best way to honor Jackson’s legacy is to continue his advocacy for universal human rights and economic justice.
鈥淚t is appropriate that we respect this season of grief,鈥� said Yusef Jackson, one of Jackson’s sons and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. 鈥淗owever, it is also appropriate to honor him by stepping up, to step out, and continue his work by answering his call to serve.鈥�
The younger Jackson said that the Rainbow PUSH Coalition recently honored Jackson by deepening partnerships with activists in Minnesota, after the Trump administration launched the in the state.
U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, an Illinois Democrat and one of the late reverend鈥檚 sons, said that his father 鈥渢aught me that any society that will not support the many who are poor will never be able to save the few who are rich.鈥� He said that his father’s relentless activism and charisma were rooted in a Christian call to service.
鈥淔or the children on the reservations, in the barrios, in the ghettos, he was speaking to you,鈥� said the congressman. 鈥淢y father was attacked for speaking about diversity. He was vilified for his stand on equality, and had the people who wanted to kill him had their way, we would have never seen a rainbow coalition.鈥�
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, said that ambitious politicians should emulate the political strategy Jackson championed during his two presidential bids.
鈥淟et the word go out that anyone who would like to be president of the United States in 2028, you鈥檇 better study this concept of the rainbow coalition,鈥� Morial said.
Members of the public were welcomed to fellowship with family, world leaders
In a move meant to reflect Jackson’s ethos, some members of the public who gathered outside the PUSH headquarters were allowed to enter the private service.
鈥淒ad鈥檚 theology was rooted in the belief that every human being carries inherent worth,鈥� said Ashley Jackson, the late reverend’s youngest daughter. 鈥淗e fought for that truth in places that most people never saw, people whose names never made the news across decades and continents and causes.鈥�
The service included musical performances by singers Stevie Wonder, Opal Staples, Terisa Griffin, Kim Burrell and others. The comedian Chris Tucker added some levity to the solemn services with a stand-up comedy set.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the late Jackson for his work to end South Africa’s apartheid system. Jackson was a close friend of Nelson Mandela, South Africa鈥檚 first Black president.
鈥淗e told the world that the struggle for dignity in the United States was inseparable from the fight against apartheid and injustice in South Africa,鈥� said Ramaphosa, who said his nation claimed the late civil rights leader as one of their own.
鈥淲hen Jesse Jackson reminded the United States that its strength as a nation lies not in exclusion, but in the beautiful diversity of its people 鈥� Black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural, workers and farmers, immigrants and the forgotten 鈥� we were hugely inspired by his message,鈥� said Ramaphosa, who was a key negotiator in the end to the apartheid system.
Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, praised Jackson as a peacemaker and humanitarian.
鈥淵our mourning is also ours. You have lost a father, a husband, a brother. The world has lost a pastor, a champion, a mender of bridges. Africa has lost a faithful, loving son,鈥� Tshisekedi said.
Since his death last month, Jackson鈥檚 family and allies they say continue his work.
Mourners first honored Jackson as he lay in repose in Chicago last month. The late reverend then . Jackson grew up in segregated Greenville, South Carolina. As a high schooler, he led fellow students into a protest that desegregated a local library, starting a lifetime of civil rights leadership.
Services honoring Jackson in Washington, D.C., were postponed after . House Republican leadership cited the precedent that only former presidents and senior generals regularly receive the privilege.
Jackson’s allies have emphasized the forcefulness of his message and convictions.
鈥淗e maintained an intense relationship with the political order, not because presidents were white or Black, but the demands of our message, the demands of speaking to the least of these, those who were disinherited, the dispossessed, the disrespected, demanded not Democratic or Republican solutions, but demanded a consistent, prophetic voice,鈥� said Jesse Jackson Jr., the late reverend’s eldest son and a former congressman seeking to win back his seat in Congress in this fall’s elections.
Fraternity brothers salute him at PUSH headquarters
Jackson鈥檚 mentees also organized efforts to continue his civil rights activism.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a global moment where peace in the world is in jeopardy, where we just have bombs being dropped carelessly, killing children, innocent victims of political actions,鈥� said the Rev. Janette Wilson, a longtime senior adviser to Jackson and executive director at Rainbow PUSH Coalition. 鈥淲hen the government cuts SNAP benefits and you have millions of children and families who will be food insecure, I think you have to tell them that we鈥檙e fighting for you.鈥�
On Thursday, the headquarters hosted a series of events that celebrated Jackson’s life, including a memorial service for several hundred members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., of which Jackson was a member. That same night, the chamber hosted a reunion for Rainbow PUSH alumni to commemorate the late reverend and his years of activism.
They celebrated Jackson鈥檚 life and reminisced about his dual presidential bids; his globe-trotting activism as an anti-apartheid activist and hostage negotiator; and his evangelism for a Christianity that emphasized justice for all and support for the downtrodden.
Reverend’s family expected in Alabama for voting rights march
On Sunday, members of the Jackson family and many of Jackson’s mentees will travel to Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 鈥淏loody Sunday鈥� protest marches when civil rights activists were beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.
Jackson himself often attended the same anniversary march.
鈥淪elma has always stood for the basics of what civil rights is, what we are debating in policy,” said Jimmy Coleman, a longtime aide to Jackson and native of Selma. “He was always focused on what we needed in terms of policy in any given political moment, and that’s what the march represents.”
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