On Feb. 17, Rev. Jesse Jackson died at age 84. A civil rights activist and politician known across the country and the world, Jackson lived in Chicago and was well-respected on the West Side.
Rev. Marshall Hatch, senior pastor of the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park, said that, when many others overlooked the West Side, Jackson never did.
“The West Side has appreciated the attention that we got, the relationships that were forged that were valuable to him,” Hatch told Austin Weekly News. “He preached in our churches. He’s known to our folk here.”
“Although Rev. Jackson has been a global leader, we’ve always had his ear. Wherever he was, we could always reach him,” Rev. Ira Acree, lead pastor of Greater St John Bible Church in Austin, told Austin Weekly News.
Jackson was a mentor to Acree and Hatch, along with several other pastors in Chicago, carrying on the legacy he was taught by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“The work of Jesse Jackson continues through us,” Acree said. “In fact, the work of Dr. King does because Rev. Jackson is our direct mentor, but he was a protege of Dr. King, so we consider Dr. King our spiritual grandfather.”
Both Acree and Hatch played a large role in the West Side branch of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which aims to protect and gain civil rights to create equitable economic and educational opportunities. Jackson founded the coalition in 1971, which grew out of King’s Operation Breadbasket initiative. King appointed Jackson as the initiative’s first director in Chicago to help more Black people secure employment. Jackson was also with King on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when he was killed in 1968.
Hatch served as the national director of religious affairs for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and when it launched its West Side branch around 2001, Hatch was its first president.
“Being able to access him, spend time with him, it was almost like a graduate seminar in seminary and what it means to do ministry,” Hatch said of working and traveling with Jackson with the coalition. “With his spirit, you can see that he intentionally spent time to mentor and pour himself into people.”
Acree was head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s West Side branch after Hatch. He protested and traveled with Jackson and called on him when he needed advice.
“It still amazes me that, if something was going on in Austin and I need some direction on how to respond, how to speak out, how to organize a protest, or what to say, I could get him on the phone and he would give me some tips and some nuggets to approach the challenges. It’s unbelievable that you get a call back the same day from Rev. Jesse Jackson.”
Acree recalls the first time he saw Jackson in person, when the civil rights icon spoke at the University of Illinois Chicago while Acree was a student there. Acree met Jackson about 15 years later in 1999 at one of the reverend’s forums.
“I remember saying to him, ‘I’m just speechless because I had no idea that I would get an opportunity to get in your office, get face to face, have a conversation with you so easily.’ He said, ‘I don’t know why you’re so surprised. The line for service has always been short.’ That was how our relationship began.”
The last time Jackson attended St John Bible Church was about two years ago, Acree said. Later in 2024, the church added Jackson’s visage to its Freedom Window, which depicts Jesus, King and other icons in Black history. Jackson never saw it.
Jackson’s work inspired Acree and Hatch to help launch their own organization, the Leader’s Network, a group of faith and community leaders working to improve the quality of life on Chicago’s West Side.
“The Leader’s Network is an offshoot and has its roots in our work at the Rainbow PUSH,” Hatch said.
To carry on Jackson’s legacy, Hatch said he’ll carry on his passion for his work, for social justice, and caring for those who are marginalized.
“I would like to feel that I inherited that passion from our relationship, that it’s something I’ll be engaged in, like he was, literally to the day that I die.”