The body of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., the renowned civil rights leader, will lie in state at the South Carolina Statehouse next Monday, Governor Henry McMaster has announced. This honour will take place in the state where Jackson was born and where his lifelong activism first began as a teenager.
Honouring a Civil Rights Pioneer
Jackson, who passed away on February 17 at the age of 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder, will be commemorated in a series of services across the United States. His body will first lie in repose this week at the Chicago headquarters of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organisation he founded to advance social justice causes.
Journey of Tributes
Following the Chicago repose, Jackson's body will travel to South Carolina and then to Washington, D.C., for further celebrations of his life and legacy. A large public service is scheduled for March 6 at the House of Hope, a 10,000-seat church in Chicago. This will be followed by private homegoing services the next day at Rainbow PUSH, which will be livestreamed for the public to view.
Roots in Greenville
Jesse Jackson was born in 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, in a small house on Haynie Street just outside downtown. In recognition of his contributions, a portion of this street will be renamed in his honour. His early activism started at segregated Sterling High School, where he was the quarterback. In 1960, he led seven other Black classmates into the whites-only public library in Greenville, where they sat and read books and magazines until they were arrested. This bold act marked the beginning of his distinguished civil rights career.
Legacy of Activism
Jackson went on to become a protégé of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., participating in key events such as the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. He later ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, bringing civil rights issues to the national stage. Throughout his life, he remained active in South Carolina, advocating for causes like honouring Martin Luther King Jr. with a county holiday in 2003 and supporting the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds in 2015 after the racist shooting at a Charleston church.
Governor McMaster stated that further details about the lying in state ceremony will be released later, as preparations continue to honour this iconic figure in American history.
