The late Rev. Jesse Jackson was a giant figure in the Civil Rights Movement, a powerful and passionate speaker and served D.C. as its first elected shadow senator, lobbying relentlessly for statehood and full self-governance in D.C.
But to Virginia Ali, whose family has owned and run Ben’s Chili Bowl since 1958, Jackson was “a good family friend, first of all.”
Ben’s has been more than a place to grab a half-smoke, a burger or fries.
Ben’s Chili Bowl has served as a cultural hub for decades, feeding legions of young students, activists and anyone with a hankering for chili — as the restaurant’s slogan says, “Our chili will make your hot dog bark!”
Ali remembered Jackson as a “great politician and activist.”
As Jackson stepped into the void left by the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Ali told WTOP, “We need some more new young leaders to come on and step up.”
“During the Civil Rights Movement, he was so important to this country. And after Dr. King died, he had to step up,” she said.
Ali said that when the mural with national and local figures was added to the side of their original U Street location in 2017, Jackson happened to stop by.
As the artist Aniekan Udofia stepped down to meet him, Jackson greeted the artist and then spotted his portrait among the luminaries and without hesitation, “Climbed up the ladder and took the brush and put some finishing strokes on it,” Ali said with a laugh.
Ali said Jackson was a loyal customer, and whenever he was in town, “He made it a point to be at Ben’s Chili Bowl and we had so much fun together, sharing stories and laughing and enjoying a meal together.”
“It was just wonderful,” Ali said.
Ali also recalled that “If the jukebox was going, he would be moving, and snapping his fingers to the music.”
Did Jackson have a favorite song on that jukebox?
Ali struggled to think of a specific tune, laughed and said, “I’m 92, you know!”
“We honor not only a leader, but a friend. Not only a champion for justice, but a cherished member of our family. Rest in power our friend. Your seat at our table will always be yours,” the Ali family said in a statement.
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