CHICAGO – Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson has been discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital after more than 12 days of treatment for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disorder, his son announced Saturday.
The 84-year-old activist was hospitalized in mid-November 2025 while receiving care for PSP, a condition initially diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease in 2013. His diagnosis was reclassified in April 2025.
“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.”We bear witness to the fact that prayer works… We humbly ask for your continued prayers throughout this precious time.”
Rev. Jackson publicly revealed his initial Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017, stating at the time, “After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinson’s disease, a disease that bested my father. Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it.”
A longtime ally of Dr. martin Luther king Jr., Rev. Jackson has experienced several health issues in recent years,including gallbladder surgery and hospitalization for COVID-19. PSP currently has no cure.
