Celebration of life for Jesse Jackson to draw former presidents and Grammy-winning artists

CHICAGO (AP) — Three former U.S. presidents, Grammy-winning artists, clergy and elected officials are expected to attend a Chicago celebration of life on Friday for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

The event honoring the protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where the civil rights leader was born.

The Chicago celebration — at an influential Black church with a 10,000-seat arena — is anticipated to be the largest. Former Democratic U.S. presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, along with former Vice President Kamala Harris, plan to attend, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization that Jackson founded. The musical lineup includes gospel singer BeBe Winans.

“These homegoing services are welcome to all. 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,” the civil rights leader’s son Jesse 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.”

The elder Jackson died last month at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak. Family members say he continued coming into the office until last year and communicated through hand signals. His final public appearances included the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

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.

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, D.C., were tabled after a request to let Jackson lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said precedent typically reserves the space for select officials, including former presidents. Details on a future event have not been made public.

In his final months, Jackson received numerous visitors in Chicago, including the Clintons and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who also attended his memorial services in Chicago last week.

“He has been the central mentor of my life,” Sharpton said. “The challenge for us that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain.”

People pay their respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson inside the South Carolina Statehouse as he lies in state Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)

Santita Jackson, daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, speaks at Brookland Baptist Church during a tribute service honoring her late father Monday, March 2, 2026, in West Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

The casket of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is carried to the South Carolina Statehouse, where he will lie in state, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)

Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., hugs a mourner at a public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, attends his public visitation at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Venus Williams lost again in her return to the BNP Paribas Open, falling in the first round Thursday, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 to Diane Parry of France.

The 45-year-old Williams, who has dropped her last eight WTA singles matches, received a wild card into the singles and doubles draws for the tournament in the Southern California desert. It came 30 years after she made her Indian Wells debut in 1996 when she was 15.

After Williams rallied in the second set to tie it, the 23-year-old Parry, ranked 111th in the world, took control and cruised in the third.

It was Williams' 10th career appearance in the tournament and first since 2024, when she also lost in the first round as a wild card. The seven-time major winner was given a wild card last year, but didn’t accept it.

“Of course losing isn’t fun, but it’s great to play in front of a home crowd,” the Southern California native said. “They were behind me the whole way, and that was really fun for that.

“I have amazing fans that believe in me and it’s fun to play for them, or even in practice when they come out. It’s very thrilling. Yeah, today was a tough one, but that’s sport and that’s life, and I’ll take what I need from it.”

Parry will face 15th-ranked American Madison Keys in the second round Saturday.

Williams entered the BNP Paribas Open having lost her last seven matches, with the only win in her comeback to the tour coming in her return at Washington last year.

She competed in the Australian Open in January and lost in the first round in both singles and doubles. Williams was the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw, surpassing the mark set by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.

Williams most recently participated in the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, last month as a wild-card entry and lost in the first round of singles to Ajla Tomljanovic.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE -Venus Williams, of the United States, returns a shot to Lyudmyla Kichenok, of the Czech Republic, and Ellen Perez, of Australia, during a first round women's doubles match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)