Liberal Icon Hospitalized Amid Battle With Rare Disease

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the veteran civil rights leader and political firebrand, was hospitalized Wednesday as he battles a rare and incurable neurological disease, his organization said.

The 84-year-old founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition is under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a degenerative brain disorder that affects balance, movement, and vision.

The Chicago-based group, which Jackson formed in 1996 by merging two of his earlier organizations, said the legendary activist has been managing the disease for over a decade.

“He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease; however, last April, his PSP condition was confirmed. The family appreciates all prayers at this time,” the coalition said in a statement.

Jackson first revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017.

Jesse Jackson participating in a rally, January 15, 1975

“After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinson’s disease, a disease that bested my father,” he said then. “Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it.”

The former aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and longtime friend of far-left Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has faced mounting health issues in recent years, including gallbladder surgery and a bout with COVID-19 that landed him in the hospital.

Jackson officially stepped down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition last year, handing the reins to Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III.

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