Helen Burns Jackson’s life will be celebrated Sunday and Monday at Springfield Baptist Church in Greenville, the same church where she sang in the choir and from where her son, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, set out from on foot as he marched to the Greenville Public Library as part of the “Greenville 8” in a civil rights protest on July 16, 1960 against segregated libraries.
A public viewing will be held from 4-6 p.m. Sunday followed by a celebratory musical at 6 p.m. at Springfield Baptist Church, 600 E. McBee Ave., Greenville.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, also at Springfield. Watkins, Garrett and Woods Mortuary is attending.
Jackson, who had been in declining health for several years, died Monday at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She was 92.
She passed on her bent toward social justice to her eldest son Jesse and her love for music to her younger son Charles “Chuck” Jackson, a singer-songwriter-producer who wrote several songs for Natalie Cole that helped launch her career.
Chuck picked up his love for music from her singing and from plucking away at an old raggedy piano with stuck keys in their home, Jackson said.
The family will launch a scholarship in her name through the Jackson Family Foundation to award to local students who want to pursue the arts, he said. In lieu of flowers, he asked for donations to that scholarship fund, which could be made through Springfield Baptist Church.
From a young age, Jackson’s mother taught him about the values that would become his lifetime pursuit.
“In our house there was an acute conversation about fairness and social justice, in part because Mama could not vote until she was 40,” he said.
Jackson thanked Springfield for hosting services for his mother, who split her time between Springfield and Long Branch Baptist Church in Greenville.
Springfield holds significance to Jackson because of its historic role in Greenville’s civil rights movement, he said. Originally built in 1867 by ex-slaves, the church was a launching point for social justice. Baseball great Jackie Robinson spoke there during an NAACP conference in 1959, the same visit where he and three others were told to leave Greenville Municipal Airport’s public waiting area, which made national headlines.
His visit ignited a protest against Greenville’s municipal airport. Months later, Jackson joined a protest of more than 1,000 who marched to the airport. Their starting point was Springfield Baptist.
Jackson said he would honor his mother’s legacy by continuing her battle for gender equity and social justice.
He’s spent more time in Greenville in recent months to be near his mother and plans to launch a statewide voter registration effort.
And as Jackson thanked the doctors and staff at Greenville Memorial for their “excellent” care of his mother, he noted the many patients at the hospital who couldn’t afford medical care because of what he said was the state’s refusal to accept $12 billion to expand its Medicaid programs under Obamacare.
Jackson called that “a source of pain” for the family that is keeping many poor locals in poverty.
But he said they took comfort in the number of people who’ve offered condolences — musicians, politicians, social activists and personalities, some of whom plan to attend the musical or funeral.
“It’s been a source of great comfort,” he said.
Stay connected 24/7 via WFMY News 2
Get the WFMY News 2 App which is free in the Apple store.
