Family of Rev. Jesse Jackson honors legacy of civil rights icon

Born in the throes of Jim Crow, the Rev. Jesse Jackson “quickly became maladjusted to injustice. On the field of his life, his shoes were well-worn. His uniform, dirty with the stripes of imperfection as he did his best to live up to his Christian calling.”

Those were the words of Jackson’s son Yusef, speaking about his father’s legacy on the steps of the family home in Chicago’s Jackson Park Highlands area Wednesday morning. All of Jackson’s children were there, sharing thanks for the prayers and support the family has received since the Rev. Jackson, a mainstay in the Civil Rights Movement and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, died “peacefully” and “surrounded by his family” Tuesday at 84. His health had been in decline for years due to progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder.

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Flowers and balloons rested in front of the Jackson home, similar to those left at Rainbow PUSH headquarters Tuesday. Numerous people came out to park their cars to take pictures of the bunting being placed atop.

Wednesday, Jackson’s work and mission were remembered by his children Yusef, Jonathan, Jesse Jr., Santita and Ashley Jackson. Jacqueline Jackson was not in attendance, but according to Jesse Jr. will be in Chicago soon. Each spoke, sharing memories of their father, some trying to hold back tears as they articulated what it meant to lose a parent who led “the extraordinary life that he lived.”

For Santita, the Rev. Jackson was daddy, a man who took fatherhood very seriously. And unlike others lost to violence in the cause for Civil Rights — Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcolm X, all of whom died in their 30s — her father got to be part of their lives for a lifetime.

“Every opportunity we had, my siblings can attest to this, we always said ‘I love you,'” she said. “Always tell people that you love, that you love them. When he was in his moment of need, he didn’t need to hear that from us, he felt it and we felt it from him because he never hesitated to tell us and show us that he loved us.”

“God gave my father some extra innings and his death did not come without warning to us, yet we’re still painfully unprepared emotionally,” Yusef said.

He said what sustained his father’s life in the last days was not his desire for more life but more service. It’s the wisdom that informs that service that his children tried to extract in the moments they had with Jackson, to make sure they were prepared to continue the work going forward, they said.

“He had a godly calling and an assignment from Dr. King, which he never wavered from throughout his life,” Santita said. “There is no one who has been more faithful to the mission of Dr. Martin Luther King than Jesse Louis Jackson Sr.”

“We his family and the many others touched by him, inspired by him, are left obligated to continue his work to make our nation a better place for all through the techniques, tools, and platforms he championed and left us to use,” Yusef said.

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A Baptist minister born in South Carolina, Jackson was a protege of King who participated in the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches. He continued the fight for social justice and civil rights through the coalition and campaigned twice unsuccessfully for president. He stepped down as the president of Rainbow PUSH in 2023. Yusef Jackson will take the reins of the organization going forward. He expressed his want of patience, temperance and courage to serve that his father impelled upon the family.

Tributes from across the city and the country poured in Tuesday. Neighbors and friends remembered Jackson for his “generous” personality, while local politicians said he was an inspiration. Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered public buildings across the city and state to fly flags at half-staff.

Jackson Jr. said his mother will be making some requests of the governor and the mayor to remember the legacy of Jesse Jackson and the work he’s done for the city and state.

U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson reminded people that his father was a long-distance runner in the fight for freedom and dignity. He thanked him for being “a champion runner for justice,” and added that the fight must be taken up by another generation.

“It’s a continuous fight, as we see the rollbacks of our rights he’s fought so hard for are now being challenged,” he said. “We will continue to fight.”

Ashley Jackson said that Generation Z and millennials have the responsibility to remain in discourse with one another. “If we’re not in proximity with one another, we can’t solve the nation’s crises,” she said. “I speak on behalf of Dad that we’re urgently called to continue discourse and remain in conversation because our proximity is what is going to keep us moving forward in this time.”

On Monday evening, Jackson’s family released a schedule of homegoing events planned for next week. Jesse Jackson Jr. said everyone of all political leanings are welcome to attend the services because his life “is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.” But he asked that attendees be respectful.

“Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together,” he said. “If his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse — amen.”

Chicago Tribune’s Rebecca Johnson contributed.