Mourners pay their last respects to Jackson

'We've got to stand up and keep it going,' says Sharpton at leader's Chicago organization.

- BY SOPHIA TAREEN

NAM Y. HUH Associated Press

PALLBEARERS carry the casket holding the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. before a public visitation at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago.

CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large video screen playing excerpts of Jackson's notable speeches. Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.