CHICAGO — Famed civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. has been hospitalized.
The family of Jackson, 84, is asking for prayers, according to a news release from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the nonprofit he founded. Jackson was admitted to the hospital Wednesday and is under observation for his progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative condition he has had for more than a decade, according to the release.
Jackson has been a political force in the United States — and a leader in Chicago — for decades.
Jackson, who was born in South Carolina, attended the Chicago Theological Seminary in the ’60s while becoming involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. gave Jackson a leadership role in Chicago under the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and he began to gain national attention.
Jackson had personality clashes with King’s successor in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, leading to him creating Operation P.U.S.H. and the Rainbow Coalition in the ’70s. He eventually morphed the groups into Operation Rainbow Push.
In the ’80s, Jackson became the second Black person to run for president in the United States, running in the ’84 and ’88 elections. He gave an address at that election’s Democratic National Convention in 1984.
Jackson continued to be a prominent leader in the years after, known for his duels of words with former President George Bush and advising former President Bill Clinton. He had a political debate show on CNN for several years.
Jackson stepped down as leader of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023 after more than 50 years at the helm.
He was given a key to the city of Chicago for his 83rd birthday in 2024. Over the years, he’s also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the NAACP’s President’s Award and has been appointed commander of the Legion of Honor in France.
“Through the lens of our personal experiences as Black people, you’ve been able to eloquently and profoundly stitch together the hopes and dreams of not just our ancestors, but the hopes and dreams of other people [and] groups, and you were able to prophetically connect our hopes and aspirations to people who also sought justice,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said at 2024’s birthday celebrations for Jackson. “This is about us cementing your leadership into the halls of power for generations.”
Jackson is married to Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, and they have five children, including Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson, who represents part of the South Side.
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