Jesse Jackson released from Chicago hospital after treatment for brain disorder
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights activist, was released from a Chicago hospital Monday after receiving at least 12 days of medical care for a rare brain disorder, according to his family.
His son and family spokesman Yusef Jackson reported that 84-year-old Jackson was discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and their condition was stable. he said in a statement.
The Baptist minister, social activist and former US presidential candidate was hospitalized earlier this month for observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects balance, movement and eye movement. Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. In April 2025, the diagnosis was reclassified as PSP, for which there is currently no cure.
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Longtime civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is seen at the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Our family wants to thank the countless friends and supporters who reached out, visited and prayed for our father,” Yusef Jackson said in a statement released through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based progressive organization founded by the elder Jackson. he added.
“We testify that prayer works, and we also want to thank the professional, caring, and wonderful medical and security staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital,” he added. “We humbly ask that you continue your prayers during this precious time.”
Jackson announced his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017.
“After a series of tests, my doctors determined the problem was Parkinson’s disease, a disease that defeated my father,” he said at the time. “Realizing the effects of this disease on me was painful, and I was slow to grasp the severity of it.”
Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson attend Day One of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
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For a long time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The political activist, who works with , has faced multiple health issues in recent years, including gallbladder surgery and hospitalization for COVID-19.
In 2021, he was hospitalized in Washington, D.C., after falling and hitting his head while helping Howard University students protest campus living conditions.
Jackson became one of King’s key lieutenants in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the 1960s. In 1965, she participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches, three protest marches in Alabama to defend the voting rights of African Americans.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. delivers a speech with Rep. Maxine Waters and her supporters at the Los Angeles Hilton Hotel during the presidential campaign, June 6, 1984. (Bob Riha Jr./Getty)
After King’s assassination in 1968, Jackson became one of the key heirs to King’s legacy of activism. Jackson is considered one of the most prominent civil rights leaders, ministers, and political figures in modern American history. Jackson ran for president twice as a Democrat, in 1984 and 1988.
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The Rainbow PUSH Coalition was created by the elder Jackson by merging two groups he founded in 1996: Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Reuters contributed to this report.
