Home / Health / Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson Hospitalized with Rare Neurological Disorder
Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson Hospitalized with Rare Neurological Disorder
13 Nov
Summary
- Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. hospitalized with progressive supranuclear palsy
- Jackson has been managing the rare disease for over a decade
- Stepped down as president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023
On November 12, 2025, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition announced that Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., a longtime civil rights leader, has been hospitalized with a neurodegenerative condition. The 84-year-old activist was admitted to the hospital on the same day and is currently under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder.
Jackson, who emerged as a prominent voice in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, has been managing the disease for more than a decade. He was initially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2017, but his condition was later confirmed to be progressive supranuclear palsy last April.
The civil rights leader, who was a protege of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., stepped down as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023. The organization had evolved from Operation PUSH, which Jackson founded in 1971. Despite his health challenges, Jackson remains a respected figure in the fight for social and economic justice.
