On Christmas Day, Rev. Jackson Jackson Sr. posted the bonds of a handful of inmates at Cook County Jail in Chicago so they could spend the holiday with loved ones.
After Jackson paid the bonds, cameras captured him walking arm-in-arm with the released men, ABC News reports.
“This is just a good feeling. It brings a warmness to my heart,” released detainee Aaron Kinzer told ABC News. His mom, Eileen Thomas Kinzer, agreed, saying, “It’s a blessing because this would’ve been his first Christmas locked up—ever,” she told reporters.
Because a reverend is always gonna bring a word, Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition brought a worship service to the jail, with Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church delivering a Christmas message.
Hatch likened the inmates to baby Jesus, saying they were like the baby “wrapped in swaddling clothes, meaning literally the babe is wrapped in rags, which means it does not matter what you have on. The only thing that matters is what’s on the inside,” he preached.
This isn’t the first time Jackson has posted bonds for folks sitting in Cook County Jail. Earlier this month, he did the same for Bernard Kersh, the 29-year-old black man who was slammed to the ground by Chicago police officers on Thanksgiving.
And last year, Jackson also posted bonds for three Cook County detainees, including Khadija Campbell, a pregnant woman whose crime was stealing a $14 bottle of gin, according to the Chicago Crusader.
Economics is why folks can’t make bond, and Jackson, a longtime advocate for social and racial justice, is determined to shed light on this travesty.
“They spend more time in jail waiting for trial than the actual sentences,” he said.
But thanks to Jackson, some folks will spend the Christmas season with their family, which may, in fact, be the best gift.