Civil Rights Icon Rev. Jesse Jackson Faces Critical Health Battle in Chicago Hospital

Civil rights icon Reverand Jesse Jackson remains hospitalized as his medical team works to stabilize his blood pressure following complications tied to his diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). A source close to the Jackson family told CNN that the 84-year-old activist is currently receiving a form of life support to help regulate his blood pressure after a significant drop Saturday night.

Rev. Jesse Jackson Health Update: Life Support and PSP Symptoms

According to CNN, a family source confirmed that Rev. Jackson experienced a sudden decline over the weekend, prompting immediate action from his medical team.

“He has had moments of brief energy due to a medication he has been on for two days,” the source shared, adding that Jackson’s doctors responded quickly when his blood pressure dipped Saturday night.

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition previously announced that Jackson had been under observation for PSP, a rare degenerative neurological disorder. The US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes PSP as a disease that “affects body movements, walking and balance, and eye movements.” Many symptoms mirror Parkinson’s disease, though PSP typically progresses faster, and most patients experience debilitating mobility challenges within three to five years.

Jackson “has been managing this neurodegenerative condition for more than a decade,” the organization said. While he was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, doctors confirmed PSP as the correct diagnosis in April.

His son Jesse Jackson Jr. also offered cautious optimism last week, telling listeners during his weekday radio show that there had been “significant improvement” in his father’s condition earlier in the hospitalization.

“On behalf of the Jackson family, we cannot extend enough of our gratitude for those of you who have expressed your thoughts and prayers,” he said on his KBLA show, “The Jesse Jackson Jr. Show.”

Civil Rights Legacy: Decades of Leadership and ‘Keep Hope Alive’

Rev. Jackson’s health battle arrives after more than six decades of public service. As a protégé of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson rose to prominence in the 1960s and became one of the most influential civil rights leaders in modern American history, according to the PUSH Coalition. He marched in Selma, worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was appointed director of Operation Breadbasket before founding Operation PUSH in 1971 to promote economic justice.

In 1984, he launched the National Rainbow Coalition, which later merged with Operation PUSH to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an organization still active today. Jackson’s trademark phrase, “Keep hope alive,” became a national rallying cry and followed him through pivotal eras — from the Jim Crow period to Barack Obama’s election and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson’s early life was shaped by segregation. He once recalled his elementary school yard as “full of sand,” saying, “If it rained, it turned into red dirt.” Despite challenges, he excelled academically and athletically, eventually earning a football scholarship before turning fully to civil rights activism. His lifelong service later earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.

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