Longtime civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson hospitalized
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, has been hospitalized, according to the Rainbow Push Coalition.
Pastor Jesse Jackson Sr. remains hospitalized, but his condition is stable, his family announced in a statement on Nov. 16.
Mr. Jackson, 84, was admitted to a hospital under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy on November 12, his civil rights organization Rainbow Push Coalition said in a statement.
In a statement on November 16, Jackson’s family denied reports that the civil rights leader was on life support, confirming that he was breathing without the aid of machines at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
“In fact, today he called on 2,000 churches to prepare 2,000 boxes of food to prevent malnutrition during the holiday season,” said his son Yusef Jackson.
Mr. Jackson, an ordained Baptist minister, was a prominent voice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and a former disciple of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination twice, in 1984 and 1988, but formed and later merged the Rainbow Coalition with the civil rights group Operation Push.
Pastor Jesse Jackson is hospitalized. What is progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP?
In 2017, Jackson announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease two years ago. However, in April last year, his diagnosis was confirmed as progressive supranuclear palsy, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare neurological disease that affects body movement, gait and balance, and eye movements, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Although it is different from Parkinson’s disease, some of the symptoms are similar. PSP usually begins later than the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
According to NINDS, PSP usually worsens rapidly and can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia, suffocation, and head trauma from falls.
Pastor Jesse Jackson’s Health
In a 2017 letter initially announcing her diagnosis, Jackson acknowledged that her father also suffered from the disease.
“At 76 years old, in the later years of my life, I find it increasingly difficult to perform everyday tasks and find it more difficult to get around,” Jackson said at the time. “For a while, I resisted taking time off from work to see a doctor. But as the daily physical struggle intensified, I could no longer ignore the symptoms, so I just accepted.”
According to the Rainbow Push Coalition, Jackson was hospitalized for abdominal surgery in February 2021, and was hospitalized again in August 2021 after testing positive for the coronavirus. According to Reuters, he also received treatment at Howard University in November 2021 after falling and hitting his head.
He stepped down as chairman of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
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