Three former presidents, a sitting mayor and governor, business executives, clergy members and gospel singers were expected to gather on Friday morning on the South Side of Chicago at a public memorial service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The service on Friday, which could draw thousands of Chicagoans, caps two weeks of memorials to Mr. Jackson, whose oratory and activism arguing for racial equality and opportunity made him one of the most powerful civil rights figures of his time.
The Jackson family is expecting to welcome three of the four living former U.S. presidents as speakers: Barack Obama, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Bill Clinton. Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, who has called Mr. Jackson a beloved mentor, and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois will speak at the service, along with the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader; Representative Maxine Waters of California, a Democrat; and Tom Ricketts, an owner of the Chicago Cubs.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jill Biden, the former first lady, will also attend. The service will feature performances by Jennifer Hudson, Bebe Winans and the Rev. Marvin Winans, the family said.
Mr. Jackson’s body lay in repose for two days last week in Chicago at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the social justice advocacy organization he founded, and again in Columbia, S.C., on Monday, after arriving at the statehouse on a horse-drawn caisson.
The Jackson family chose House of Hope, an arena that seats 10,000 people in the Pullman neighborhood, for Mr. Jackson’s “public homegoing,” a ceremony of speeches and song to celebrate his life. Mr. Jackson died last month at his Chicago home at the age of 84, after suffering from a neurodegenerative condition that limited his speech and mobility.
Chicago was Mr. Jackson’s adopted hometown, the place where he spent most of his life. He first settled in Chicago in his 20s to lead the city’s chapter of Operation Breadbasket, a national economic development campaign. For decades, from his perch at Rainbow PUSH, Mr. Jackson drew mayoral candidates, presidential hopefuls and local leaders to the organization’s famed Saturday forums.
Hundreds of people who knew Mr. Jackson personally stood in line last week at Rainbow PUSH to pay their respects, bringing flowers and mementos that they left outside. Mr. Jackson’s children stood alongside his casket and shook hands with the mourners, some of whom had waited for hours before it was their turn to enter.
A smaller service for invited guests is scheduled for Saturday at Rainbow PUSH headquarters in Chicago.
