Share and Follow
In a poignant farewell to a life dedicated to civil rights advocacy, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will make his final visit to his birthplace, lying in state at the South Carolina Capitol this Monday. This honor marks the closing chapter of a journey that began in the segregated streets of Greenville, a place where Jackson once faced the harsh realities of racial discrimination.
Back in 1960, a young Jesse Jackson confronted the injustice of a segregated library system. Denied access to the well-resourced whites-only branch, he courageously led a group of seven Black high school students into the library. Their peaceful protest involved simply sitting and reading, an act that resulted in their arrest but ultimately led to the integration of the library branches. This pivotal moment ignited Jackson’s lifelong commitment to the fight for equality.
His early activism caught the attention of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Jackson soon joined the historic Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights in Alabama. This marked the beginning of a prominent career as a civil rights leader, one that would span decades and impact countless lives.
Jesse Jackson passed away on February 17 at the age of 84, following a battle with a rare neurological disorder that had affected his mobility and speech. His legacy, however, remains a beacon of hope and a testament to the power of perseverance and activism in the quest for justice and equality.
Jackson died Feb. 17 at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.
His casket draped in an American flag arrived at the South Carolina Statehouse on a horse drawn caisson on a chilly, cloudy morning. A special white-gloved Highway Patrol honor guard brought Jackson inside the Statehouse and to the second floor where well over 100 people packed under the rotunda for a ceremony before the public would be invited in to pay their respects.
“Today we’re here to celebrate a life well lived, a job well done,” said Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who led the ceremony.
The service began with a rousing version of the civil rights anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” that reverberated through the Statehouse — a building that was partially destroyed in 1865 during the Civil War started by South Carolina to keep slavery.
The South Carolina services are part of two weeks of events. It began with Jackson’s body lying in repose and the public invited last week to his Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s Chicago headquarters.
After South Carolina, Jackson will be returned to Chicago for a large celebration of life gathering at a megachurch and the final homegoing services at the headquarters of Rainbow PUSH. Plans for a service in Washington, D.C., to honor him have been postponed until a later date.
Nationally, Jackson advocated for the poor and underrepresented for voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders.
Through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society. He stepped forward as the Civil Rights Movement’s torchbearer after King’s assassination, and would run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.
Jackson continued to be active in his home state, pushing in 2003 for Greenville County to honor King by matching the federal holiday in his honor and in 2015 by advocating for removing the Confederate flag from South Carolina Statehouse grounds after nine Black worshippers were killed in a racist shooting at a Charleston church.
Jackson is just the second Black man to lie in state at the South Carolina Capitol. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney was honored in 2015 after he was shot and killed in the Charleston church shooting.
___
Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.