Photo: Getty Images North America
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has been released from the hospital after receiving treatment for a rare brain disorder.
On Monday (November 24), the Rainbow PUSH Coalition confirmed that Jackson had returned home after being released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, per CNN.
Jackson, 84, had been under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disorder, the organization said earlier this month. The longtime activist is now in stable condition after receiving treatment.
“Our family would like to thank the countless friends and supporters who have reached out, visited, and prayed for our father,” Yusef Jackson said in a statement on behalf of the family. “We bear witness to the fact that prayer works… We humbly ask for your continued prayers throughout this precious time.”
The update comes after the Rainbow Coalition released a statement on November 16, shutting down reports that Jackson was on life support. The organization said Jackson had been breathing on his own while receiving treatment for PSP, which he's been managing for over a decade. Jackson had initially been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease before doctors confirmed his PSP last year.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition founder rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a close aide and protégé of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After King’s assassination in 1968, Jackson became one of the country’s most influential civil rights figures.
He founded Operation PUSH in 1971 to improve the economic conditions of Black Americans and later launched the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984 to champion equal rights. The two organizations merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which continues Jackson’s advocacy work today.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.