March 3, 2026

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The sweet sounds of Amazing Grace filled the corridors of the South Carolina State Capitol, which was filled with lawmakers, as the flag-draped casket of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson was escorted in front of them.

Born to a single mother in Greenville, S.C. in 1941, Jackson was denied entrance to the State Capitol building. But on Monday an honor guard carried his decorated casket into the building for him to receive the honors earned by his life of service.

The service in South Carolina would mark a program of soulful songs,  messages, and dynamic speeches featuring U. S. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Ambassador Andrew Young, a crowd of civil rights veterans, and some of the Jackson children who made the 21-hour road trip from Chicago, where he had been viewed by thousands, to Columbia. The final public memorial service will be held in Chicago on Friday, March 6, at the House of Hope, 752 E. 114th Street. The doors will open at 9 am. A private service will be held on Saturday, March 7, at the Rainbow/PUSH headquarters in Chicago.

Monday in Columbia, S.C. began with a march in which Jackson’s family walked behind a horse-drawn carriage to the Capitol building. Then a South Carolina state police honor guard carried him up the stairs followed by Jackson’s children.

The long journey took a toll on Jackson's widow, according to Jesse Jackson Jr., who told those in the Capitol that his brother, U. S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, had driven his mother back to Chicago after she took ill. 

“This state stands at the beginning of his story,” his daughter, Santita Jackson, said. “And the experiences in this place to call home to which he returned again and again.” 

Santita Jackson also thanked Governor Henry McMaster for allowing her father’s remains to be placed in the Capitol and for lowering the flags to half-mast. She said such gestures have restored her belief, “that there is integrity in the United States.”

Knox White is in his eighth term as mayor of Greenville, S.C., where Jackson was born. White said Jackson once came back to Greenville and seemed like he knew everybody in the meeting. “He was a model of servant leadership.”

Clyburn came from Washington DC to Columbia because when he first ran for Congress, his mother Helen Jackson, sold fried chicken dinners and in high school, Jesse was the quarterback on the team that played his school where he warmed the bench. 

“This is a relationship that has spanned generations,” Clyburn said. “His mother helped me to launch my political career.” 

Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young and many Civil Rights veterans came to pay their respects to Jackson whose American flag remained at the Capitol building until 5 pm.  Young spoke in front of the casket but his voice was faint.

Shelly Davis, a close aide to Rev. Jackson, said the Jackson motorcade stopped in Nashville at Sweets Restaurant then kept going to South Carolina.

“It meant the world to be part of Rev. Jackson home going,” Davis said. “I started with him in Chicago. It was hard because we had to bring him home to a state that meant the world to him.”

The Jackson motorcade was supposed to travel to Washington DC, but a decision was made for Jackson to remain and the family to return to Chicago, Davis said.

Jackson's memorial service at the Brookland Baptist Church in Columbia drew several thousand. About 25 speakers recalled nearly every aspect of his life. Their remarks were limited to 2 minutes each.

Two of the speakers were TV Judge Greg Mathis and the Rev. Mark Thompson. Both men had traveled from Chicago to South Carolina because Jackson was instrumental in their lives. Many of the speakers talked and repeated Jackson’s theme of “I Am Somebody.”

President Obama, Bill Clinton, and all living former Presidents have been invited to attend Jackson’s funeral this Friday at the House of Hope Church in Chicago. There will be a private service Saturday at the headquarters of the Rainbow Coalition and a burial later.

But there was a special moment at the church in Colombia. Each person had 3 minutes; including Jesse Jackson Jr. So, Jesse Jr. asked if he could give a family reflection which would come later in the program so that he could escort his father’s casket out of the Capitol building.

James Felder: former member of the South Carolina House and Jackson’s friend reflected on a high school field when they were denied entrance to the house. “That trip to the state House did something to us. Jesse stood in the course of history and changed his course.”

Stephen Benjamin, the first Black mayor of Columbia, and senior advisor to President Biden, said that Jesse Sr.  “was a bridge between generations. His contribution was, ‘You matter. Your voice matters.’”

Jackson Jr. said his assignment during the church tribute was to escort his father’s remains to South Carolina and back. But then, he told the church that his father could give him his remains “but he couldn't give me his star.” Rev. James S. Hall, who Baptized Jackson, was also in the church. 

Jesse Jr. concluded, “Jesse Jackson moved the state of South Carolina forward. Dad’s contribution was “psychological…Jesse Jackson’s contribution was to give hope to a people who had given up on hope…Everyone has a star and each one of us has a star that is unique” to us, he said. “Jesse Jackson taught people that I am somebody. I am God’s child. I am from South Carolina.”

He then walked with the state troopers with his Dad's casket, got into the hearse, and drove off.