CHICAGO − Mourners are set to gather to remember the late civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jackson's family on Feb. 18 revealed preliminary funeral plans for the longtime activist who died at 84 following a lengthy illness with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare disease that causes a decline similar to Parkinson's disease but accelerated.
The towering civil rights icon battled alongside Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases and shamed corporations for their lack of corporate diversity and failure to support voting rights. Jackson founded what would ultimately become the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and was a Democratic presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988, energizing and registering millions of Black voters.
As tributes pour in for Jackson and his family, the nation is preparing to mourn Jackson's prolific legacy of activism. Here's what we know about funeral plans and public observances in the coming days.
Speaking in Chicago on Feb. 18, Jackson's family announced services to honor Jackson will begin "in earnest" next week. Jackson is expected to lie in state at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters in Chicago, and a memorial service will be held at a nearby church that is yet to be determined.
