CHICAGO (AP) — Memorial services honoring the life of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will be expanded beyond Chicago with events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, the late civil rights leader's organization announced Thursday.
Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate, died earlier this week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his ability to move and talk.
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Yusef Jackson speaks during a news conference regarding the death of his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. stands near a picture of his father, the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a news conference outside the family home in Chicago, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Santita Jackson speaks during a news conference regarding the death of her father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Santita Jackson stands near a picture of her father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a news conference outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Jackson will still lie in repose next week at the Chicago headquarters of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition with a public celebration of life and homegoing services to follow, though dates for Chicago events have been changed. Formal services were added, scheduled from March 1 to March 4 in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where Jackson was born and raised.
Rainbow PUSH did not offer further details.
Jackson’s adult children gathered outside the family home in Chicago on Wednesday, saying the funeral services would be large gatherings where everyone would be welcomed. They also vowed to continue his decades of advocacy.
“Although his body is absent from us, his spirit suffuses and infuses us, and it charges us to continue with the work,” said Santita Jackson, his eldest child.
In Chicago, a public celebration of life will be held at House of Hope, a 10,000-seat church, on March 6, followed by private homegoing services the next day at Rainbow PUSH, which will be livestreamed.
Jackson rose to prominence six decades ago as a protégé of King, joining the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King later dispatched Jackson to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers. Jackson was with King on April 4, 1968, when the civil rights leader was killed.
Yusef Jackson speaks during a news conference regarding the death of his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. stands near a picture of his father, the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a news conference outside the family home in Chicago, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Santita Jackson speaks during a news conference regarding the death of her father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Santita Jackson stands near a picture of her father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a news conference outside the family home Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s legislature on Thursday approved an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of politicians, activists, lawyers and many others, effectively acknowledging that the government has held hundreds of people in prison for political motivations.
The approval marks a stark turn for the South American nation, whose authorities have for decades denied holding any political prisoners. It is the latest policy reversal following last month’s stunning U.S. military raid in the country’s capital, Caracas, to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who proposed the bill late last month, is expected to sign the measure, which outlines the eligibility and exclusions for people to be granted amnesty, and therefore, be released after months or years of being in custody.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s a great step forward,” opposition lawmaker Nora Bracho said during the debate. “It will alleviate the suffering of many Venezuelans.”
The measure is expected to benefit opposition members, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and many others who were targeted by the ruling party over the past 27 years. It is the latest policy shift for Venezuela, where the government has been quick to comply with orders from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, including last month’s overhaul of the country’s oil industry law.
The bill’s purpose is to grant people “a general and full amnesty for crimes or offenses committed” during specific periods since 1999 that were marked by politically-driven conflicts in Venezuela, including “acts of politically motivated violence” in the context of the 2024 presidential election. The aftermath of that election led to protests and the arrest of more than 2,000 people, including minors.
The debate over the bill was suspended last week after lawmakers were unable to agree on some issues, including whether people who left the country to avoid detention can be granted amnesty, and laid bare the resistance from some ruling-party loyalists to seeing opposition members granted relief. Lawmakers on Thursday overcame the disagreement by allowing those abroad to have a lawyer seek amnesty on their behalf instead of forcing them to return to Venezuela to request the relief in person.
General amnesty has long been a central demand of Venezuela’s opposition and human rights organizations, but they have viewed the proposal with cautious optimism and raised several concerns about eligibility and implementation.
Venezuela-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal estimates more than 600 people are in custody for political reasons.
In the days after Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez’s government announced it would release a significant number of prisoners. But relatives and human rights watchdogs have criticized the slow pace of releases. Foro Penal has tallied 448.
Families hoping for the release of their loved ones have spent days outside detention facilities. A few began a hunger strike on Saturday.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, center, presides over a session debating an amnesty bill in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Crisitian Hernandez)
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez presides over a session debating an amnesty bill in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Crisitian Hernandez)
An activist protests outside the United Nations office for the release of what demonstrators consider to be political prisoners in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Barbara Bracho, left, mother of Gilberto Bracho, is embraced by Zoraida Gonzalez, mother of Miguel Estrada, both of whom consider their sons to be political prisoners, protest for their releases outside the United Nations office in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People who consider their detained family members to be political prisoners call for their releases outside the United Nations office in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People who consider their detained family members to be political prisoners protest for their releases outside the United Nations office in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
