Political leaders across Illinois mourn Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death: ‘A giant of the civil rights movement’

Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday ordered public buildings across the city and state to fly flags at half-staff in honor of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died at 84 after rising from an upstart Chicago organizer to a national leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon and Chicago-based presidential candidate, dies at 84

Their announcements joined messages from political leaders across Illinois who were mourning Jackson’s death and nodding to the decades-long movement he championed after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his mentor.

“Rev. Jesse Jackson was a giant of the civil rights movement,” Pritzker wrote in a post on X. “He broke down barriers, inspired generations, and kept hope alive. Our state, nation, and world are better due to his years of service. I’m ordering flags to half-mast to honor him. May his memory be a blessing.”

Johnson, an ally of the Jacksons, wrote a fulsome tribute that nodded to Jackson’s ascent in Chicago, from building up the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization to founding the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

“Rev. Jackson’s mission always centered the strength and liberation of our Black community, but his mission always extended to all who needed empowerment by cultivating a rainbow of power that could shine through every storm,” Johnson wrote on X. “I ask you to anchor your hope in action to honor Rev. Jackson’s enduring contributions. He believed in you, and found hope in humanity. Do something today to keep hope alive.”

Jackson stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH in 2023, revealing that he was battling Parkinson’s disease, and was hospitalized for about two weeks last November.

During the last decade of his life he continued advocating for social causes such as Black Lives Matter. And he uplifted candidates and elected officials, among them Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

He was honored during the first day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a trailblazer of Black political power, one whose legacy paved the way for Harris’ historic bid as the first black woman nominated by the Democratic Party. Before that, Jackson also encouraged the Black community to get their coronavirus vaccines and spoke out against police killings in Chicago and beyond.

Johnson’s predecessors, former mayors Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel, also paid their tributes on Tuesday.

“Words are inadequate to fully capture the essence of this man—iconic leader, unapologetic champion for the downtrodden, and vulnerable, barrier breaker, diplomat and strategist extraordinaire,” Lightfoot wrote on X. “Never to be forgotten, you have earned your well deserved rest in the bosom of the angels.”

Emanuel nodded to being “fortunate to have a front-row seat” to some of Jackson’s historical fights.

“Whether it was in the White House or Chicago City Hall, I never knew Jesse to walk into a room simply to be welcomed — he walked in to make sure others would be welcomed after him,” Emanuel wrote. “Ours was a relationship built on advocacy: the push and pull of someone who never let power get too comfortable, who asked the hard questions, demanded the honest answers, and reminded those of us in positions of responsibility exactly who we were supposed to be serving.”

Jackson’s sons Jonathan Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr. are both running for U.S. Congress, the first to hold onto his seat in the 1st District and the second to return to power in the 2nd District after resigning in 2012 under political scandal.