Obama slams Trump era at Rev. Jesse Jackson memorial

At Rev. Jesse Jackson’s memorial service in Chicago, Barack Obama used the moment to critique current Washington leadership, joined by Biden, Clinton and Harris. He noted Jackson’s presidential runs in the 1980s paved the way for Black leaders, including his own 2009 presidency and re-election. “The message he sent to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that maybe there wasn’t any place or any room where we didn’t belong,” Obama said. He warned that democracy can feel fragile as new assaults on the rule of law and on common decency emerge each day. “Each day we wake up to some new assault to our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.” “Each day we are told by folks in high office to fear each other,” he added, a line that echoed concerns about today’s political climate and the current Republican leadership in Washington. Biden, Clinton and Harris spoke of Jackson’s legacy and influence, while Trump, who had praised Jackson on social media after his death and shared photos of the two together, did not attend the service. Thousands gathered at a church on Chicago’s South Side for the celebration, hearing stories of Jackson’s impact on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines. The memorial balanced somber reflection with celebration of a life dedicated to civil rights and public service, a reminder of Jackson’s enduring push for inclusion and justice.

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