CHICAGO (WLS) – The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. received the key to the city of Chicago on Tuesday.

It was part of a celebration of the civil rights activist's 83rd birthday.

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The honor took place on Tuesday afternoon on the fourth floor of the town hall.

Family, friends and admirers were in attendance.

Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke before presenting the key to Jackson, a lifelong civil rights advocate.

SEE ALSO: Memorial service for former Rainbow PUSH Chief of Staff John Mitchell

Johnson said Jackson's work will continue to inspire future generations.

“We thank you that the long road to freedom is now a little shorter,” Johnson said.

His son, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, shared an emotional tribute, thanking city leaders and residents for embracing his father when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asked Jackson to lead the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket nearly 60 years ago.

“I think it's completely appropriate to give flowers to great men and great women while they can still smell them,” Jackson said.

The ceremony felt like a church service at times.

Jackson's legacy took center stage at the Democratic National Convention a few months ago. The party celebrated his nearly six decades of activism and his status as the first Black person to win a major party's presidential primary or caucus.

Jackson's oratorical skills, which made him a force to be reckoned with, were largely silenced by Parkinson's disease.

Last year, Jackson resigned as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based organization he founded in 1996 that fights for progressive social change. He now works in an advisory role.

Nevertheless, he continues to be present at many public events.