Jackson touched so many lives here in the Atlanta area. He helped organize the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King Jr. and other icons, and he had a Rainbow Push Coalition office here.
Jackson also made his way around the city, dining out and helping young politicians get their start.
“Jesse used to be upstairs, and he would come into the restaurant,” Kenley Waller, the owner of Kenley’s Catering and Restaurant, told Channel 2’s Tom Jones.
Waller says Jackson loved coming to his business. He has several pictures of Jackson on his walls.
“Yeah, he used to love our friend chicken,” Waller said.
Loved it so much, Jackson wouldn’t wait for workers to serve him.
“I told him just go on to the back and fix your own food,” he said.
Waller said Jackson leaves behind an incredible legacy.
“He was such a good guy, and if he could help you, he would help you,” Waller said.
Clark Dean remembers Jackson coming to Harvard University when he was a student back in the 90s and speaking about affirmative action. He says he didn’t agree with all of Jackson’s politics, but respected his passion for what he believed in.
“He’s an important figure in American history, and he believed deeply in the things he did,” Dean said.
Jackson was a well-known icon in the civil rights movement, but so many politicians say his run for president and his beliefs in them helped them get elected.
“Jesse Jackson was an international celebrity who came to my little, small town and helped a candidate that no one knew,” Michael Thurmond said. Thurmond has won several offices over the years.
He says before that, he lost his first two races. He thought about ending his pursuit of politics. Thurmond says Jackson arrived in Athens and convinced him not to give up.
Thurmond says Jackson’s message of hope and belief in self resonated with him.
“‘If your mind can conceive it, your heart will believe it, then your hands can achieve it.’ I still remember to this day,” Thurmond recalled as one of Jackson’s mantras.
Former State Representative Tyrone Brooks was Jackson’s Georgia campaign chairman when Jackson ran for president in 1984.
He says Jackson’s legacy is profound and he deserves much more credit than he gets for helping people all over the world.
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years Here are some memorable photos of the Rev. Jesse Jackson through the years. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1966: Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., right, and his aide the Rev. Jesse Jackson are seen in Chicago, Aug. 19, 1966. (AP Photo/Larry Stoddard)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1968: In this April 3, 1968, file photo, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King, and Ralph Abernathy. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly, File)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1968: A brace of plow mules drawing the farm wagon bearing the mahogany casket of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along the funeral procession route in Atlanta on April 9, 1968. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, in green, and Andrew Young, at the left corner of the casket, are among some of the mourners. (AP Photo)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1970: Jesse Jackson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference speaks at a University of California rally at Greek Theater in Berkeley on May 27, 1970. (AP Photo/Sal Veder)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1972: The Rev. Jesse Jackson talks to newsmen at the opening of the National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, March 11, 1972. (AP Photo/Charles Knoblock)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1974: President Gerald Ford talks with Vernon Jordan, center, executive director of the National Urban League, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, national president of Operation PUSH, during his meeting with civil rights leaders at the White House, Oct. 25, 1974. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1976: Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shakes hands with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Chicago civil rights leader, as they met at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1976. (AP Photo)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1979: President Jimmy Carter with the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the White House in Washington on April 4, 1979. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1980: Republican presidential nominee Gov. Ronald Reagan talks with the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, director of Operation Push, outside the organization's headquarters in Chicago on Tuesday, August 5, 1980. Nancy Reagan is at right. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1983: The Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, chats with tennis star Arthur Ashe at a news conference at the opening of Jackson's state campaign headquarters in the Brooklyn section of New York, Dec. 17, 1983. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1984: Lt. Robert O. Goodman Jr., second from left, is welcomed home by President Ronald Reagan during a Rose Garden ceremony outside the White House, Jan. 4, 1984, after he was returned from Syrian captivity. Looking on from left: wife Terry Lynn; Goodman's brother Martin; Secretary of State George Shultz; Goodman's mother Marilyn (partially obscured); his father Robert Sr.; his brother Tyron (partially obscured); Reagan; the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was instrumental in negotiating his release; Vice President George Bush. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1984: The Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, and former Sen. George McGovern both gesture during dialogue at the Democratic presidential debate in Manchester, New Hampshire on Thursday, Feb. 23, 1984. (AP Photo)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1984: Democratic presidential candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson sat down with Cuban President Fidel Castro and other high Cuban government official at the National Palace in Havana on Tuesday, June 26, 1984, to discuss "peace options" in the area of Cuban-U.S. relations and Central America. (AP Photo/J.Scott Applewhite)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1987: Mrs. Coretta Scott King holds hands while singing with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mrs. Christine Farris, the sister of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as they parade on Peachtree Street in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 19, 1987, to honor King's birthday. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1987: The Rev. Jesse Jackson holds hands with members of his family in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Oct. 10, 1987, where he announced he is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1988: Jesse Jackson is joined by his daughter, Santita, and son Jonathan, far right, and an unidentified youngster at the Los Angeles Hilton Hotel on June 8, 1988, after falling in defeat to Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in the California Democratic primary. (AP Photo/John Duricka)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1990: Nelson Mandela, accompanied by his wife, Winnie, far left, is greeted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, at Kennedy Airport in New York on June 20, 1990. (AP Photo/Chester Higgins Jr.)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1991: The Rev. Jesse Jackson talks with Rosa Parks at the dedication of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., July 5, 1991. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1992: Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, right, greets Santita Jackson, daughter of Jesse Jackson, center, following a song performed by Ms. Jackson at a "Rebuild America" conference held by the Rainbow Coalition in Washington on June 13, 1992. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 1999: In this Saturday, May 1, 1999, file photo, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, second from right, holds hands as he leads a prayer with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, second from left, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs Zivadin Jovanovic, left, and U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., right, in Belgrade. (John H. White/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2002: In this Sunday, March 3, 2002, file photo, demonstrators cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march. From left are civil rights attorney Julian McPhillips, in tan hat, Selma mayor James Perkins, civil rights activist Marie Foster, in yellow hat, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Evelyn Lowery, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. (AP Photo/Kevin Glackmeyer)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2004: After singing "Georgia on My Mind," Willie Nelson and the Rev. Jesse Jackson embrace during funeral services for Ray Charles at First AME Church in Los Angeles on Friday, June 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2005: In this Oct. 26, 2005, file photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela, left, walks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson after their meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2006: The Rev. Jesse Jackson comforts former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, right, during the ground breaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington on Monday, Nov. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2007: Pop star Michael Jackson, right, smiles as he walks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, down the red carpet during the RainbowPUSH Coalition Los Angeles 10th annual awards dinner celebrating Jesse Jackson's 66th birthday, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2008: Jesse Jackson in the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2010: The Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, leads a group of marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., Sunday, March 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2012: The Rev. Jesse Jackson, center, leaves Whigham Funeral Home after visiting with the family of Whitney Houston before going to the New Hope Baptist Church for her funeral in Newark, N.J., on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2013: The Rev. Jessie Jackson Sr. waits in a SUV for his son, former Illinois Rep. Jessie Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandra, to leave federal court in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, after the younger Jackson entered a guilty plea to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2015: From left, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama, gather after services honoring the life of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Friday, June 26, 2015, in Charleston, S.C., at the College of Charleston TD Arena. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2017: President Barack Obama talks with the Rev. Jesse Jackson following his farewell address at McCormick Place in Chicago, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. On the left is Jackson's son, Jonathan Jackson. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2018: The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks during the funeral service for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, in Detroit. Franklin died Aug. 16, 2018, of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2020: The Rev. Jesse Jackson pays respect to the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., lying in state on the East Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2021: The Rev. Jesse Jackson greets demonstrators during a protest over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer during a traffic stop, outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Saturday, April 17, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 17: Rev. Jesse Jackson leaves an event at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition headquarters after announcing his support for Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson on March 17, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, is facing former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in a runoff election for the Mayor's office scheduled for April 4. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2024: Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson appear onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic party supporters are in Chicago for the convention, concluding with current Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her party's presidential nomination. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2024: Rev. Jesse Jackson attends the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic party supporters are in Chicago for the convention, concluding with current Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her party's presidential nomination. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2025: Rev. Jesse Jackson attends a Sunday church service at Tabernacle Baptist Church on March 09, 2025 in Selma, Alabama. Community members and Democratic Congressional members commemorate the 60th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," in Selma, Alabama which occurred March 7, 1965 when a group of about 525 African-American demonstrators gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church and attempted to march to Montgomery to demand the right to vote. The group was met by state troopers and were brutally beaten when they refused to turn back leaving at least 17 hospitalized and 40 others who received treatment for injuries and the effects of tear gas. The annual event which has been dubbed “The Annual Pilgrimage to Selma,” is held the second weekend of every March, consisting of a festival of music, art and historical remembrance leading up to the “March to Restore Voting Rights” across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Photos: Jesse Jackson through the years 2025: Civil Rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson visits with guests at the National Bar Association's annual convention on July 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. The National Bar Association is the nation's oldest and largest network of predominately black legal professionals. Former President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak at the event's awards gala later in the evening. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson/Getty Images)