CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- The city of Chicago is now set to begin official discussion this week on what's expected to be the first of many potential tributes to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, following his death last month at the age of 84.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has described the civil rights icon as a friend and mentor, brought thousands of people to their feet during the March 6 public memorial service at the House of Hope on Chicago's Far South side, when he called back to the Rev. Jackson's march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama during the fight for civil rights in the 1960s.
"Reverend, you crossed your bridge," the mayor said as many in the audience rose to applaud. "We know our assignment. We'll see you on the other side."
And the first part of that assignment appears to be due on the afternoon of March 11, when Mayor Johnson has called a special meeting of City Council to consider two items: a memorial resolution honoring the Reverend Jackson, and a proposed ordinance the Mayor's office calls the "Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Fair Access to Democracy Ordinance."
It's a measure that the mayor's team says would provide security measures to protect poll workers, voters and related activities.
The proposal seems to be a nod to the Rev. Jackson's drive to register people of color to vote, especially during his runs for President in the 1980s.