The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s family announced revised funeral arrangements Thursday afternoon for the Chicago-based civil rights icon and presidential candidate who died two days ago.
The family said in a statement that after first releasing their plans Wednesday they heard from leaders who “extended the extraordinary honor” of holding services in Jackson’s native state South Carolina and Washington D.C. Information on registering for the events is forthcoming.
“We have heard from people around the world whose lives were touched by Reverend Jackson’s tireless efforts to expand opportunity, build coalitions, and advance a more just, peaceful, and hopeful world,” the statement said.
Thursday, Feb. 26
Public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Location: 930 E. 50th St., Chicago
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 27
Public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Location: 930 E. 50th St., Chicago
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Sunday, March 1 – Wednesday, March 4
Formal services in South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
Friday, March 6
The People’s Celebration at House of Hope
Location: 752 E. 114th St., Chicago
Time: Doors open at 9:00 a.m.
Service: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 7
Private Homegoing Services at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Location: 930 E. 50th St., Chicago
Time: Doors open at 8:00 a.m.
Service: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
*A livestream will be shared with the public
Jackson’s son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said at a Wednesday morning news conference that everyone of all political leanings is 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.”
The founder of the Kenwood-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition died Tuesday morning at 84, “peacefully” and “surrounded by his family.” His health has been in decline for years, and he recently spent weeks in the hospital for progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder.
Tributes from across the city and country poured in Tuesday, from all walks of life. Neighbors and friends remembered him 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.
Yusef Jackson called his father Wednesday a “lion among lions” who dedicated his life to public service to make the nation better, the world more just and people better neighbors.
“Rev. Jackson would say ‘it is my religion that makes me political, not my politics that makes me religious,’” he said. “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.”
A Baptist minister born in South Carolina, Jackson was a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 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.
Tribune columnist Steve Daley called him in 1990 a “political force of nature” who is both an “eloquent voice for the dispossessed and a relentless manipulator of events and issues, hopscotching from coal strike to South Africa to statehood for the District of Columbia.”
