US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson hospitalised

AFP

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is hospitalised and currently under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which he founded, said.

"He has been managing this neurodegenerative condition for more than a decade," the organisation said in a statement. "He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson's disease; however, last April, his PSP condition was confirmed. The family appreciates all prayers at this time."

The 84-year-old reverend has been a leader of the US civil rights movement since the 1960s. He fought for the rights of Black Americans and other minorities alongside his mentor, Martin Luther King Jr., and was present when King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

Jackson announced in 2017 that he had Parkinson's disease, an ailment that constrains movement and gets progressively worse with time.

In 2021, he was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19, and again after falling and hitting his head.

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a merger between "People United to Save Humanity," a group Jackson founded in 1971 to continue King's work, and a coalition he formed after his first unsuccessful run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984.

More from International News

  • US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis

    A US immigration agent has shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday during an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violence in President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on migrants.

  • Israel strikes Gaza launch site after failed rocket fire

    Israel's military said on Thursday it had carried out a targeted strike on a rocket launch site near Gaza City after identifying a failed launch, as questions mount over when the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire will begin.

  • Russia frees French researcher in prisoner exchange

    Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher serving a three-year prison sentence in Russia for violating Moscow's foreign agent laws, has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange, French and Russian officials said on Thursday.

  • US seizes another tanker tied to Venezuela as Trump widens oil push

    The US has seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela's socialist government to become an ally.

Coming Up