Former US president Barack Obama speaks at a public memorial service to celebrate the life of civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson in Chicago, Illinois, on March 6, 2026. Veteran US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of the nation’s most influential Black voices, died peacefully on February 17, 2026 at the age of 84. Jackson, a Baptist minister, had been a civil rights leader since the 1960s, when he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and helped fundraise for the cause. (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP via Getty Images)