Civil Rights Legacy

The People’s Celebration funeral for Rev. Jesse Jackson was held at the House of Hope megachurch on Chicago’s Far South Side, drawing thousands and a roster of dignitaries—including former presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, former vice president Kamala Harris, other leaders and musical performances by Jennifer Hudson and members of the Winans family—and was open to the public despite storm threats. In their eulogies Obama, Biden and Harris praised Jackson’s civil‑rights and political legacy (with Obama noting Jackson’s role in making Black presidential candidacies viable) and used their remarks to critique the values and rhetoric of the Trump era; a request to have Jackson lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol rotunda had been denied.