Africa-Press – Zambia. Civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, 84, a legendary African American leader from Chicago and one of the most influential figures of the modern civil rights movement, is currently hospitalized and receiving life-support assistance to help stabilize his blood pressure. Jackson, long admired for his decades of activism and for founding the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has been battling a serious neurological illness, making his current condition especially significant for African Americans and for those who have followed his leadership since the 1960s.
CNN reports that, according to a family source, Jackson has been under close medical supervision after being monitored for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare and debilitating neurological disorder. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition recently shared that he has been under observation for this condition, though his medical team has not disclosed many specifics. PSP often affects movement, balance, and eye control, and is known to progressively worsen over time.
The family insider reported that Jackson’s health became more fragile over the weekend after his blood pressure dropped sharply on Saturday night. Medical professionals responded quickly, and since then he has shown intermittent bursts of energy, possibly due to medication he has been receiving for the past two days. Despite the seriousness of his condition, Jackson has had brief but noticeable moments of responsiveness.
Just last week, Jackson’s son, Jesse Jackson Jr., shared on his radio program that his father had demonstrated “significant improvement” while under medical care. PSP often mimics Parkinson’s disease in its early stages, and Jackson was initially believed to have Parkinson’s before doctors confirmed his PSP diagnosis last year. Most patients with PSP experience major disability within several years of onset.
Jackson has reportedly been managing symptoms of this neurodegenerative illness for over a decade. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition previously clarified that although Parkinson’s was his original diagnosis, updated evaluations confirmed PSP as the true cause of his health challenges. The disease commonly begins in a person’s 60s, making Jackson’s long-term management of the condition notable.
Rising to national prominence as a close aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, Jackson became one of America’s most transformative civil rights voices following King’s assassination. He founded Operation PUSH in 1971 to strengthen the economic power of Black communities, later launched the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, and ultimately merged both into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. His enduring message—“Keep hope alive”—solidified his legacy across the Jim Crow era, the civil rights movement, and the generations leading up to the election of Barack Obama and the rise of Black Lives Matter.
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