(NASHVILLE, TN) – A funeral caravan carrying the body of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped briefly in historic North Nashville on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, as it made its way to Greenville, South Carolina, the birthplace of the Civil Rights icon.
Natalie R. Bell
Local leaders of the Nashville Branch, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who were expecting the caravan, gathered outside their offices on Jefferson Street around 3:50 p.m. and saluted the hearse carrying Jackson’s body as it passed by. They were joined by students from Tennessee State University and various political leaders.
“Aside from bringing his presidential campaign here in 1984…he as so instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement,” here in Nashville and throughout the South, remarked Cheryl Woodward, Nashville NAACP vice-president. “We’re honored just to have a part in paying tribute to him,” she said.
Jackson’s family had planned the caravan following services for him last week in Chicago. They wanted to transport his body from Chicago to his birthplace of Greenville, South Carolina, where his body would lie in state. Along the way, they would stop briefly in Nashville for a rest break, then continue on to South Carolina. When Nashville NAACP leaders received word of the planned stop here, they swiftly organized a devoted audience to honor the life and legacy of Jackson.
“We’re so grateful we were here to see the passing of this great historic moment and to acknowledge someone who meant so much to our city,” said Timothy Hughes, president, Nashville NAACP.
“Jesse Jackson loved us collectively and he wanted us to love ourselves,” said Dr. Joycelyn Imani, adding, “He reminded us that ‘We Are Somebody’ and that we can ‘Keep Hope Alive,’ which is super critical to remember in this moment.”
At approximately 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 28, the Jackson funeral caravan arrived at the location of Nashville’s oldest black-owned funeral home, Lewis & Wright Funeral Directors, 2500 Clarksville Pike. Richard Lewis, Sr., president of the firm, said he had been contacted in advance by the A.R. Leak & Sons Funeral Home, an historic black-owned mortuary in Chicago. They wanted to bring Jackson’s body to Nashville’s Lewis and Wright for a brief stop on their way to South Carolina, said Lewis. “So, it was from
one funeral home to another,” he continued, speaking during short time Jackson’s body lay in a private room at his funeral home.
“They were stopping here allowing his body to repose in the Rose Room at Lewis and Wright take a look at him, make sure that he was still looking properly and he is,” Lewis, Sr. stated. He did not allow any visitors inside the room and said Jackson’s son, Jesse, Jr., and grandson, accompanied the body.
The funeral caravan left Lewis and Wright’s establishment shortly after 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon and followed a designated route through historic North Nashville – starting from Clarksville Pike, right on D.B. Todd Blvd., left on Jefferson Street, right on Rosa Parks Blvd., left on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., then right on Rep. John Lewis Way to enter downtown, where the caravan veered onto Deaderick Street and drove past Nashville City Hall.
