Chicago comes out in force to honor Rev. Jesse Jackson

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was the family member who always showed up — and on Friday, Chicago and much of the country showed up for him.

Thousands came to the South Side's House of Hope to say goodbye to the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate who led the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s open housing campaign, started the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and traveled the world to free hostages, advise leaders and fight injustice.

From three former presidents to faith leaders, dignitaries and his family, Jackson was celebrated as a man who instilled change, inspired generations — and was there for those in need.

Attendees included people like James Hickman, who said Jackson let him sell posters at Rainbow PUSH Operation’s building. Hickman, who lives in Atlanta, said he'd driven about 34 hours to and from South Carolina for Jackson’s funeral services. Friday, he stood outside of House of Hope on the Far South Side selling calendars and a $10 commemorative poster he'd designed himself that outlined the history of Jackson’s life.

The history each poster tells is so important that he’s willing to give them away if someone can’t pay, he said.

“I couldn’t go to my local stores and big chains and all that and get our type of information,” Hickman said. “So it’s our job to tell our own stories.”

Jackson's son, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said, "Every single person in here has a Jesse Jackson story. The time he shook your hand. The time he prayed for you. The time he held you up. The time he prayed at the funeral for somebody that you know. The time he was at the hospital for you.”

Yusef Jackson said his father spent his last months urging him to mobilize churches to feed those who temporarily lost food assistance during a historic government shutdown last year that froze benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“I intend to die with my shoes on,” he recalled his father saying.

At Friday's star-studded and lengthy service, former President Barack Obama, too, recalled visiting with Jackson at a Hyde Park hotel as his health declined, and instead, finding him with a stacked to-do list that never wavered in his final days. Obama and Jackson had a complex relationship, which began with distance on Obama's part as he began his political ascent, but ended in deep admiration. On Friday, he credited Jackson's first presidential campaign in 1984, as well as Mayor Harold Washington's 1983 mayoral run, for "drawing" him to Chicago.

“I embraced him and figured we’d just have a low-key visit. Maybe he needs some rest,” Obama said of his visit. “And he starts coming up with this project and this initiative and issues I needed to look into. And here’s some commentary that he was suggesting, some phrasing he thought might work, and maybe we might co-write an article, and listening to him, I smiled. Because it took me back," Obama said. "And I started reminiscing about those Saturday mornings at PUSH and the breakfast he’d host away from [the] full meeting."

Former President Bill Clinton shared a rare, personal story about Jackson calling the White House as Congress worked to impeach him in 1998. Despite an initially rocky relationship, Jackson became an adviser and friend to Clinton, counseling him during the hearings that led to his impeachment by the House and acquittal by the Senate.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. I want you to go get Chelsea [Clinton],” he said. “Keep in mind. He’s got all this other stuff going on. He called me to talk to my daughter, to make sure she had her head in the game. And he prayed with her on the phone. And you know, a lot of people, it would never even have occurred to them to do that.”

Clinton, who said he came to the homegoing service more as a “friend” than a former president, said, “those are the things you remember.”

“He was my friend when I needed him,” Clinton said.

‘He was our neighbor’

Jackson advised presidents, met with kings and queens “and dictators and clergy of all the great religions,” Gov. JB Pritzker told the crowd. Shortly before the Democratic National Convention in July 1984, Jackson embarked on a tour of Central America. In Nicaragua, he condemned the financing of anti-Sandinista insurgents by Ronald Reagan’s administration. In Cuba, he met with Fidel Castro, negotiated the release of 22 American prisoners and brought them back to the United States.

“But here in Chicago, he was our neighbor. He was our friend,” Pritzker said. “We were so proud. We are so proud. ... While we shared him with the world, Rev. Jackson belonged to Chicago, and Chicago belonged to him.”

‘How do you show up for a lifetime?’

Scrambled eggs, grits and sausage patties were Jackson’s regular order at Hyde Park’s Valois Restaurant. He’d sit at the fifth table on the right, without fail. Jackson was a loyal customer, sometimes coming in twice a day, for over 40 years.

Gianni Colamussi, owner of the popular cafeteria-style restaurant, became friends with Jackson and his family over the years — and streaming Friday’s services on the television at Valois felt like a good way to honor Jackson’s legacy.

“He’s been a real big pinnacle of this area, and of the restaurant,” he said. “His bodyguard would sit at the table behind him, and if it was just them two, he would eat in peace."

During his break, Colamussi parked himself at the closest table to the TV. The restaurant was crowded with regulars at 11:30 a.m., but he and a visiting friend, John Pitsadiotis, were fixated on the services.

Over at Hyde Park Hair Salon, longtime barber A.C. Chandler spent the day reminiscing about events with Rainbow PUSH and about the salon’s time cutting the hair of Jackson Jr. and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson.

The hair salon, which famously counts Obama as a one-time client, streamed the Friday services on both televisions at the salon.

“Everybody has been watching all day,” Chandler, 46, said.

He and his client, Arthur Dennis, spent the appointment pointing out people they knew at the funeral.

“We were just talking about people that we know within our circle that’s either active members involved in or part of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition,” Chandler said.

Dennis, a current member of PUSH, said the homegoing celebration was essential to mourn someone so important to the city.

“But also, I think with any celebration of life. ... It’s about what do you do now? If Jesse Jackson was about solidarity, how are we showing that in our everyday lives?” Dennis, 33, asked. “Because it’s one thing to show up for a day, but how do you show up for a lifetime?”

Honoring what Jackson stood for

Alecia Washington lives and serves on the city council for Stonecrest, Georgia, but grew up in Chicago, surrounded by Jackson’s programs like Operation Bread Basket. She traveled back for the services Friday. “I definitely had to be here to make sure that I gave my final respects to Rev. Jesse Jackson,” she said.

She will most remember Jackson for the work he did to shape the Black identity after the Jim Crow era.

“My parents struggled, they came from the South,” Washington said. “They came up here and tried to make a living so we all flocked to that movement.”

For Benita White Arnold, Friday’s celebration of Jackson’s life marked a moment in history. That’s why she made sure her 15-year-old grandson joined her. She joined 25 other members of East Chicago, Indiana’s NAACP 3046-B branch in attending the service at House of Hope. She saw a parallel between the civil rights movement Jackson helped lead — and today’s activism.

“We got to remember how we got here and fight like hell to move this needle forward,” she said. “We owe this to him.”

White Arnold said she will continue registering people to vote and spread awareness. “Most importantly, I’m saying something,” she said.

Jackson, ‘a very special fallen brother’

Before the service began, Thomas Finch stood outside House of Hope proudly wearing his Omega Psi Phi jacket and displaying his large, billboard-sized video screen that would later broadcast the event for those still waiting to enter. Finch said more than 300 of his fraternity brothers attended a special memorial service the fraternity held Thursday night for Jackson, a member of Omega since 1960. "It's a significant ritual that we have for fallen brothers, and Rev. Jackson was a very special fallen brother. It was very moving. It was really a celebration. We love him and his legacy will live on."

Finch, who owns Finch Video Services, has been in business for 30 years. But he said it was hard to get his company off the ground. He said Jackson pressured big organizations to allow room for small business owners get a foot in the door.

"I couldn't get into hotels like the Hilton, the Hyatt, McCormick Place," Finch said. "Jesse Jackson knocked down some doors. I credit him with my business going up over 30 years. I'm now doing NASCAR. I've done presidential celebrations for Obama. I've done two Democratic conventions. I've done the dedication for Martin Luther King's memorial out in Washington, D.C. And one of the big events I did was the Million Man March and Bro. Jesse Jackson was with us at that. Without my big screens, it's a million men fighting because you couldn't see anything."

Contributing: Neil Steinberg, Lynn Sweet