Three former Democratic presidents of the United States attended this Friday the public funeral of Jesse Jackson, one of the pillars of the fight for civil rights who died at the age of 84.
Former presidents Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden addressed hundreds of people as a stylized image of Jackson, illuminated in blue, was projected on a huge screen behind an altar in a Chicago venue.
Former President Barack Obama was greeted enthusiastically by mourners. “I love you too,” he smiled, before paying tribute to Jackson, who he said “stepped up again and again” when called upon.
“Reverend Jackson’s immense gifts were evident from a young age, even as his circumstances conspired to try to stop him,” Obama said.
“He instinctively understood that individual success meant nothing unless everyone was free,” he added.
Prior to the speeches, a choir sang while attendees photographed a large panel with one of the civil rights movement leader’s mottos: “Keep hope alive.”
Among the scheduled speakers at the ceremony were former Vice President Kamala Harris, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
He was Jesse Jackson
Jackson, who died on February 17, was a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s and was a leading voice for African Americans on the American stage for more than six decades.
That year he participated in his first sit-in protest, in Greenville, and then joined the civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, where he caught the attention of King.
Jackson, a Baptist pastor, later became a mediator and envoy to several important international fronts.
He was an advocate for ending apartheid in South Africa and, in the 1990s, was Bill Clinton’s special presidential envoy for Africa.
He also participated in missions to free American prisoners in Syria, Iraq and Serbia.
She founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization for social justice and political activism, in 1996.
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