Family, friends and a constellation of public figures gathered on Chicago’s South Side to honor the life of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, celebrating the resilience, guidance and love that defined his work as a civil rights leader, mentor and father. The service at the House of Hope megachurch echoed with Jackson’s signature refrain, “I am! Somebody!” — a simple, insistent declaration of dignity he insisted belonged to everyone.
Speakers paid tribute to Jackson’s role in expanding the national imagination about who belongs in public life. “He paved the road,” former President Barack Obama said, pointing to Jackson’s influence in proving that a Black presidential contender could be taken seriously and in opening doors for others. Obama urged listeners to answer Jackson’s call to active citizenship: to be “heralds of change” and “messengers of hope” who step forward to serve in schools, workplaces and neighborhoods.
Jackson’s son, Yusef, offered a personal portrait of a father who refused to stop serving despite health challenges. Quoting his father, Yusef recalled, “I intend to die with my shoes on,” and described how Jackson continued to help people in war-torn Ukraine and Americans facing food insecurity. He remembered his father’s warmth toward family and closed with another of Jackson’s rallying lines: “Keep hope alive.”
The tone of remembrance mixed reverence with urgency about the present political moment. Obama acknowledged how difficult it can be to hope amid fear and division, when some people are told they count for less. Vice President Kamala Harris, reflecting on recent politics, said she had imagined the consequences of a second Trump term but had not foreseen losing Jackson’s steadiness during such a time: “What I did not predict is that we would not have Jesse Jackson with us to get through this.”
Several speakers traced the lineage of their own careers to Jackson’s encouragement. Judge Greg Mathis recalled hearing Jackson declare “I am somebody” as a teenager behind bars in Detroit; guided by Jackson’s counsel to pursue education, Mathis later worked on Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign, served in the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and built a public career on radio, television and the bench. Jackson urged him to accept a TV opportunity so he could spread hope to millions.
One of the most moving tributes came from NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, who recounted meeting Jackson as a child waiting on a soup line. Jackson bent down, looked him in the eye and told him, “You are somebody,” a message Thomas said altered his life and countered the messages of exclusion he had heard.
Through testimonial and story, the day made clear what many already knew: Jackson’s life combined protest and pastoral care, public agitation and private encouragement. Those who gathered in Chicago left with his refrain still ringing — a reminder to carry forward his insistence on dignity, inclusion and hope.