Barack Obama sparked a buzz when he turned and pointed at Gavin Newsom at the star-studded Chicago funeral for Democratic hero the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday.
The former president, standing between Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, locked eyes with the California governor in a moment that set tongues wagging.
The Democratic powerbrokers packed into Chicago’s House of Hope church needed little encouragement to speculate about Newsom’s 2028 ambitions.
Seated a few rows to Obama’s right was fellow 2028 hopeful Kamala Harris, who has recently been flirting with another run at the White House.
The eventual nominee will be hoping for a heavyweight endorsement from Obama, whose reluctance to back Harris until the eleventh hour proved prescient in her defeat to Donald Trump.
Obama, who attended without his wife Michelle, was seen sharing laughs in the front row with former presidents Biden and Clinton, joined by their wives Jill and former secretary of state Hillary.
Jackson, remembered as a ‘living bridge’ between the era of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and modern civil rights movements, died on February 17 aged 84 after a battle with a rare neurological disorder.
President Donald Trump, who praised Jackson on social media after his death and shared photos of the two together, was absent, his public schedule confirmed.
Crowds of attendees waited in long lines outside the church on the city’s South Side as television screens played excerpts of some of Jackson’s most famous speeches.
Clinton and Biden received cheers and applause as they arrived, but it was ‘the South Side’s own, President Barack Obama,’ as an announcer described him, who received the loudest round of applause as he entered the chamber.
Inside, vendors sold pins bearing his 1984 presidential slogan and hoodies carrying his ‘I Am Somebody’ mantra, while a choir sang as attendees photographed a large panel emblazoned with his rallying cry: ‘keep hope alive.’
A prerecorded video address from Senator Bernie Sanders played on auditorium screens as mourners continued to file in.
Sanders praised Jackson’s dual presidential bids as an ‘unprecedented’ effort to bridge divides along race and class.
The Vermont progressive, who twice mounted unsuccessful bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, praised Jackson for inspiring ‘enthusiasm’ across racial and age divides.
Along with a slew of Illinois elected leaders, notable attendees included actor and producer Tyler Perry, and political activist and theologian Cornel West.
Marketing professional Chelsia Bryan said she came because it was ‘a chance to be part of something historic.’
‘As a Black woman, knowing that someone pretty much gave their life, dedicated their life to make sure I can do the things that I can do now, he´s worth honoring,’ Bryan said.
Jesse Jackson Jr. said all were welcome to celebrate his father´s life.
‘Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right wing, left wing because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American,’ Jackson Jr. said last month. ‘Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together.’
Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017 and spent his final months battling progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare disorder that robbed him of his mobility and ability to speak.
Family members said he continued coming into the office until last year, communicating through hand signals. His final public appearance was at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Among the crowd was Mary Lovett, 90, who said Jackson’s advocacy had inspired her across a lifetime, from her move from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1960s through her years teaching elementary school and raising a family.
She twice voted for Jackson during both of his presidential runs and appreciated how he always spoke up for underrepresented people.
‘He’s gone, but I hope his legacy lives,’ Lovett said. ‘I hope we can remember what he tried to teach us.’
Jackson’s pursuits were countless, taking him to all corners of the globe: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, health care, job opportunities and education.
He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.
His son, Yusef Jackson, who runs the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, recalled how his father carried a well-worn Bible but also showed his faith by showing up to picket lines.
‘He lived a revolutionary Christian faith rooted in justice, nonviolence and the moral righteousness,’ Yusef 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 drew civic leaders, school groups and everyday people who said they were touched by Jackson’s work, from scholarship programs to advocating for inmates. Several states flew flags at half-staff in his honor.
Services in Washington, DC, were tabled after a request to allow Jackson to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said the space is typically reserved for select officials, including former presidents. Details on a future event have not been made public.
Jackson was a close associate of MLK in the 1960s and remained a prominent voice of African Americans on the national stage for more than six decades.
In 1960, he participated in his first sit-in, in Greenville, and then joined the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches in 1965, where he caught King’s attention.
Jackson, a Baptist minister, later emerged as a mediator and envoy on several notable international fronts.
He became a prominent advocate for ending apartheid in South Africa, and in the 1990s served as presidential special envoy for Africa for Bill Clinton.
Missions to free US prisoners took him to Syria, Iraq and Serbia.
He founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization focused on social justice and political activism, in 1996.
He is survived by his wife and six children.
