Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, 84, hospitalized
By Abby Phillip, Laura Sharman, CNN
(CNN) — Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has been hospitalized, according to a statement obtained by CNN.
Jackson, 84, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the Rainbow PUSH Coalition said Wednesday evening.
“He has been managing this neurodegenerative condition for more than a decade,” the organization said in the statement.
“He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease however, last April, his PSP condition was confirmed. The family appreciates all prayers at this time.”
Further details about his condition have not been released.
PSP is “a rare neurological disorder that affects body movements, walking and balance, and eye movements,” according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The disease typically begins in a person’s 60s and has some symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, it adds. Most people with PSP develop severe disability within three to five years.
Jackson rose to national prominence in the 1960s and has spent more than six decades advocating for racial equality, economic justice and voter rights.
In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH as a way to improve Black communities’ economic conditions across the US.
Jackson later launched the National Rainbow Coalition, in 1984, with the goal of obtaining equal rights for all Americans, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Some 12 years later, the two organizations merged to form Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
The organization’s origins stemmed from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket, founded by King, according to the website.
Jackson’s health drew public attention in 2017 when he spoke openly about his diagnosis of Parkinson’s, an incurable disease characterized by tremors, stiffness and impaired movement.
“My family and I began to notice changes about three years ago,” Jackson wrote in a statement at the time, calling the recognition of the symptoms “painful,” and noting Parkinson’s was the disease “that bested my father.”
He said he took the diagnosis as “a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease’s progression.”
In 2021, Jackson faced several health challenges, including gallbladder surgery and Covid-19 hospitalization with his wife. Later that year, he suffered a fall and hit his head while attending a meeting at Howard University in Washington, DC, and was kept in the hospital overnight for observation.
In July 2023, Jackson announced his retirement as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, succeeded by Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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