Cecilia Ley

Neil Steinberg is a news columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and wrote Jackson's obituary.

In it, he describes the reverend as a Chicago institution, a complex figure who left footprints across the world and often found his attempts to wield his own political power thwarted.

Over the years, he faced criticism for what was seen as self-seeking behavior.

Jackson said he was the last person to speak to King before his death and claimed to have cradled his head, but his version of events was challenged.

And in a TV appearance the following day, he wore clothes stained with King's blood, a move that infuriated some of King's inner circle.

Later, his 1984 run for presidency was marred by derogatory comments towards Jewish people, and infidelity in his personal life also complicated his public image.

Writing his obituary, Steinbard points to one incident early on that might have influenced Jackson's career in civil rights.

It took place when Jackson returned home to Greenville, South Carolina.

The group of Black students staged a sit-in to protest the whites-only library, which ultimately led to the desegregation of the local county's library system.

Towards the end of his life, Jackson's rare neurodegenerative condition impacted his movement and speech, but his words never lost their influence on the national stage.

Perhaps his most famous piece of rhetoric was a speech he delivered at the 1988 DNC convention.

Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego-Garcia because the detention period expired and the government has no viable plan for deporting him.

The Salvadoran national was mistakenly deported to his home country last year and his case became a focal point in the immigration debate.

Abrego Garcia had immigrated to the U.S.

illegally as a teenager, and in 2019, an immigration judge ruled that he couldn't be deported to El Salvador because he would face danger there.

Since returning to the U.S.

last June, he's been fighting a second deportation to an African country.

In her ruling, U.S.

District Judge Paula Zinas noted that the government had ignored Costa Rica, the one country that had offered to accept Abrego Garcia.