South Carolina Honors Rev. Jesse Jackson as Presidents Plan to Attend Funeral
WASHINGTON — Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are expected to attend the funeral of the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday at the House of Hope Church in Chicago — an event being billed as “The People’s Celebration” — following the death last month of the civil rights icon.
The service will be led by Dr. Charles Jenkins and Rev. James T. Meeks, a family spokesman said, and other notable speakers will include Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, Chicago Cubs owner Tim Ricketts, Rabbi Sharon Brous and businessman Jim Reynolds.
Along with the former presidents, a family spokesperson said former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also be in attendance.
The service will also feature performances from Jennifer Hudson, and gospel singers Bebe Winans and Pastor Marvin Winans.
Jackson, who died on Feb. 17 at age 84, was honored on Monday in his native South Carolina, where he grew up under segregation, with a memorial as his flag-draped casket was placed under the Capitol’s rotunda. Thousands lined up around the Statehouse to say their final goodbyes.
“I was honored to meet with Rev. Jesse Jackson’s family today and offer my condolences as we paid tribute to his life and legacy,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said.
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, to a single mother, Jackson was once denied entrance to the Statehouse. On Monday, however, an honor guard carried his flag-draped casket into the building.
It marked a day of songs, messages and tributes featuring Rep. James Clyburn and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, along with childhood friends who became civil rights pioneers in South Carolina.
The day began with a march in which Jackson’s family and others walked behind a horse-drawn carriage to the Capitol. A South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard then carried the coffin up the stairs, where he lay in repose.
“This state stands at the beginning of his story,” Jackson’s oldest daughter, Santita Jackson, said. “And the experiences in this place to call home to which he returned again and again.”
She also thanked McMaster for allowing her father’s remains to be placed in the Capitol and for lowering all flags to half-staff. She said such gestures have restored her belief “that there is integrity in the United States.”
Clyburn came from Washington to Columbia, recalling that when he first ran for Congress, Jackson’s mother, Helen Jackson, sold fried chicken dinners to help. In high school, Jesse Jackson was the quarterback on the team that played Clyburn’s school. Clyburn warmed the bench for that game.
The Jackson motorcade was originally expected to travel to Washington, D.C., but a decision was made for Jackson’s body to return to Chicago, a family spokesman said.
Jackson’s memorial service at Brookland Baptist Church in Columbia drew a few thousand people. About 25 speakers reflected on every aspect of his life. So many people wished to speak that remarks were limited to three minutes.
Many traveled to Columbia because Jackson was instrumental in their lives. Speakers repeatedly invoked Jackson’s theme of “I Am Somebody.”
Speakers included Jackson’s son, former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who later asked to give a family reflection later in the program so he could escort his father’s casket out of the Capitol. In his remarks, Jackson Jr. singled out the Rev. James Hall, who baptized his father and was in attendance, and spoke about how Jackson’s efforts helped politicians across the country.
“Jesse Jackson moved the state of South Carolina forward, in the Democratic process, allowing black folk not to be part of Super Tuesday, but to determine which candidate you want to be Democratic nominee,” he said.
“So you saved Hillary Clinton's campaign, and you made Barack Obama's campaign. That's because Jesse did that. I don't believe his contribution is political. If South Carolinians understand that you are somebody, and it okay to be called nobody, as long as you reverse the psychology, and you heard what Jesse said, I am. I am. … Respect me. Protect me. Never neglect me. I am... somebody. I am God's child. Respect me. Protect me. Never neglect me. I am! from South Carolina.”
Former state Rep. James Felder, a friend of Jackson’s, reflected on a high school trip when they were denied entrance to the Statehouse.
“That trip to the state house did something to us,” Felder recalled. “Jesse stood in the course of history and changed his course.”
Hamil R. Harris is a veteran journalist and Religion Unplugged correspondent based in Washington, D.C.