WATCH: Rev. Jesse Jackson celebrates at memorial service with Obama, Biden and Clinton

CHICAGO (AP) — From former presidents to NBA Hall of Famers to prominent church pastors, stories of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s influence on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines came to light Friday at a ceremony honoring the late civil rights leader.

Watch the memorial ceremony in the video player above.

Thousands of people gathered at a church on Chicago’s South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson.

He watches: A look at Jesse Jackson’s decades of civil rights advocacy

At times the celebration — with appearances by Grammy Award-winning gospel singers Jennifer Hudson — looked like a church mass and at other times like a political rally. Many, from former President Bill Clinton to the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader and founder of the National Action Network, likened Jackson’s death to a call to action, from speaking out against justice to voting in the midterm elections.

Former President Barack Obama said Jackson’s run for president in the 1980s paved the way for other black leaders, including his successful 2009 presidency and re-election.

“The message he sent to a 22-year-old single mom with a funny name, which is weird, is that maybe there’s no place or any room that we don’t belong in,” Obama said. “He paved the way for many to follow.”

Obama, who was joined by Clinton and former Democratic President Joe Biden in a celebration of Jackson’s life, received the loudest round of applause as the three entered the hall.

“We live in a time when it is difficult to hope,” Obama said. “Every day we wake up to a new assault on our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of ​​the rule of law, and an affront to public morals. Every day you wake up to things you never thought possible.”

“Every day those in high places tell us to fear each other,” Obama said, referring to the current Republican leadership in Washington.

Clinton said Jackson made him a better president. “He knew that change comes from the inside out,” Clinton said.

Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke on Friday.

President Donald Trump, who paid tribute to Jackson on social media after his death and also shared photos of them together, did not attend the service, according to his public schedule released by the White House.

Thousands attend Jackson’s memorial service

The event honors the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s disciple and two-time presidential candidate and follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where Jackson was born. Friday’s celebration – at an influential black church with a 10,000-seat arena – is expected to be the largest.

Crowds of attendees waited in long lines outside the church while television screens showed excerpts from some of Jackson’s most famous speeches. Inside, vendors sold pins bearing his 1984 presidential insignia and T-shirts bearing his slogan, “I’m Somebody.”

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Along with a slew of Illinois elected leaders, notable attendees included actor and producer Tyler Perry, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and political activist and theologian Cornel West. Detroit Pistons great and Chicago native Isiah Thomas was one of the speakers.

Marketing professional Chelsea Bryan said Friday that she decided to attend the memorial service because it was an “opportunity to be part of something historic.”

“As a Black woman, knowing that someone pretty much sacrificed their life, dedicated their life to making sure that I could do the things that I can do now, is worthy of being honored,” Brian said.

Jackson Jr.: Hello everyone

Jackson died last month at the age of 84 after a struggle with a rare neurological disorder that affected his movement and ability to speak. Family members say he continued to come into the office until last year, communicating through hand signals. His recent public appearances have included the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“Everyone here has a Jesse Jackson story,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said Friday. “The time he shook your hand, the time he prayed over you, the time he held you, the time he prayed over someone you knew…and he called you onto a new path of existence.”

Sitting in the crowd was 90-year-old Mary Lovett. She said Jackson’s endorsement has inspired her many times, since she moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1960s, taught elementary school and became a mother. She voted twice for Jackson during his two presidential runs and appreciated how he always spoke up for underrepresented people. “He is gone, but I hope his legacy lives on,” she added. “I hope we remember what he tried to teach us.”

Jackson’s ministry was to the poor, the underrepresented

Jackson’s endeavors were countless, taking him all over the world: advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, health care, employment opportunities, and education. He has scored diplomatic victories with world leaders and, through the Rainbow PUSH coalition, taken cries for black pride and self-determination to corporate boardrooms and pressured CEOs to make America a more open and equitable society.

Another son, Joseph Jackson, who runs the Rainbow PUSH coalition, remembers how his father carried a tattered Bible but also showed his faith by showing up to the picket lines.

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“He lived a revolutionary Christian faith rooted in justice, nonviolence and moral righteousness,” Joseph Jackson said Friday. “He was deeply involved in the political struggles of his time, but his gift was that he could rise above them. It’s not about the left wing or the right wing. It takes two wings to fly. For him, the goal was always the moral center.”

Jackson’s services in Chicago and South Carolina attracted civic leaders, school groups and laypeople who said they were touched by Jackson’s work, from scholarship programs to prisoner advocacy. Several states lowered their flags at half-mast in his honor.

The services were held in Washington, D.C., after House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a request to allow Jackson to lie in his honor in the US Capitol chamber, saying the space is typically reserved for select officials, including former presidents. Details of the future event have not been announced.