CHICAGO (WLS) — The renowned civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson continues to receive medical care in a Chicago hospital, according to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
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During Rainbow PUSH’s regular Saturday forum, Congressman Jonathan Jackson expressed gratitude to supporters for their ongoing prayers and well-wishes.
On the same day, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the public regarding Rev. Jackson’s health status.
The mayor mentioned that he has been keeping Rev. Jackson in his prayers and recently visited him at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he also spent time with Jackson’s wife.
Rev. Jackson is currently hospitalized as he receives treatment for a rare neurological disorder impacting his mobility and balance.
According to family members who spoke to ABC7, he is in stable condition and is comforted by the presence of his loved ones.
The family spoke more about his condition on Thursday after he was hospitalized on Wednesday.
It was believed Jackson had Parkinson’s disease, but officials with Rainbow PUSH said he was diagnosed in April 2025 with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a neurodegenerative disease.
The 84-year-old gained national attention in the 1960s as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s protégé. Jackson spent more than 60 years advocating for racial equality and economic justice. He ran for U.S. president in 1984 and 1988.
He helped to found the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an organization dedicated to social justice. He spent nearly three decades leading Rainbow PUSH before stepping down in 2023.
Rev. Jackson’s impact has been felt around the world, and people are now sending well-wishes and prayers in return of his lifelong acts of service.
“And just, really, what his service has meant to people,” Santita Jackson said. “It really, in this moment, has really lifted everybody. I was talking with my father. I said, ‘You don’t know how many people love you.’ And just, really, what his service has meant to people.”
Rev. Jackson’s family says doctors are monitoring his progress, and a timeline on his release remains unclear.
What is PSP?
Dr. Jori Fleisher, a neurologist at Rush University Medical Center, said PSP is also known as “Parkinson’s plus,” or an atypical Parkinson’s condition.
“People have this unusual tendency in PSP to fall backwards,” Dr. Fleisher explained. “It’s almost like they are just standing still and they are kind of pushed backwards.”
Dr. Behzad Elahi is a neurologist at UChicago Medicine. He is not working on Rev. Jackson’s case, but described the disease as part of the same family as Parkinson’s, but is more rare and more advanced, and it affects chewing, swallowing and balance. It is a disease where those closest to the patient must keep close watch.
“Less than 10% of those with Parkinsonism with or Parkinson disease will be diagnosed with PSP,” Dr. Elahi said. “The family is everything. Currently, we don’t have a cure for the disease. We have some medication that can help with some symptoms, but we currently don’t have any cure.”
Progressive supranuclear palsy is a rare brain disease that affects walking, balance, eye movements and swallowing, according to the Mayo Clinic.
PSP is also known as Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome.
The cause of PSP isn’t known, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms come from the damage of brain cells.
The only proven risk factor for progressive supranuclear palsy is age, according to the Mayo Clinic.
