SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been discharged from a Chicago hospital following treatment for a rare neurological condition, his son announced on Tuesday.
The 84-year-old civil rights icon returned home on Monday after receiving care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to a statement from his son and family representative, Yusef Jackson.
Initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013, Jackson’s condition was re-evaluated last April and identified as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a degenerative neurological disorder that can mimic the symptoms of Parkinson’s.
Yusef Jackson extended gratitude to “the countless friends and supporters who have reached out, visited, and prayed for our father,” as well as to the medical and security teams at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for their dedicated care.
“We humbly ask for your continued prayers during this precious time,” Yusef Jackson noted.
Rev. Jackson, who was a close associate of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and twice ran for the U.S. presidency, was admitted to the hospital on November 14. He is also the globally recognized founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
Visitors included former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, fellow civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton and television court arbitrator Judge Greg Mathis.
After announcing his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017, Jackson continued to work and make public appearances, including at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. In 2023, he stepped down as leader of Rainbow/PUSH, which he began as Operation PUSH in 1971, but continued going to the office regularly until a few months ago.
His family says that Jackson uses a wheelchair, struggles to keep his eyes open and is unable to speak. Relatives, including his sons, Illinois U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr., a former Illinois congressman seeking reelection, have been caring for him in shifts.
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