Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson released from hospital, family thanks supporters
The civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has been released from the hospital, his family said in a statement on Monday.
This comes after his family said last week he was breathing without the assistance of machines amid his hospitalization.
“Our family would like to thank the countless friends and supporters who have reached out, visited, and prayed for our father,” his son and family spokesperson, Yusef Jackson, said in a statement.
Jackson, 84, was under observation at a hospital in Chicago for progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative condition, which he has been managing for a decade.
"We are grateful for the medical team at Northwestern Hospital," the Rainbow PUSH Coalition said in a statement last week after Jackson was hospitalized. "They will continue to monitor his progress and well-being to ensure the best possible care and support."
"The family is grateful for all the well-wishes and prayers," the statement added.
Jackson was originally diagnosed with Parkinson's disease; however, his PSP condition was confirmed in April, the organization said.
PSP is a rare neurological disorder that affects body movements, walking and balance, and eye movements, according to the National Institutes of Health. It is caused by damage to nerve cells in parts of the brain.
Jackson, a protege to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who rose to prominence as one of the nation's foremost civil rights leaders and twice ran for U.S. president, stepped down in 2023 from the leadership of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which he founded.
