Jesse Jackson Hospitalized After Fall During Howard University Visit

Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson was hospitalized Monday night after falling at Howard University. The 80-year-old civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate was on campus for a meeting with Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick as well as students who raised concerns about living conditions at campus dorms when he “fell and hit his head,” his Rainbow/Push Coalition said in a statement.

According to the statement, via CNN, Jackson was taken to Howard University Hospital following the fall, “where various tests were run including a CT scan,” the results of which “came back normal.” Hospital staff, however, decided to keep Jackson overnight “for observation.” The university also confirmed Jackson’s hospitalization in a statement on Twitter reading, “We can confirm that Rev. Jackson was taken to the hospital by a university administrator and was later joined by Dr. Wayne Frederick. Our prayers are with the Jackson family.” In an update later that evening, Jackson’s daughter, Santita Jackson, shared, “Family, he’s resting comfortably & doing well.” No further updates have been provided at this time.

The Monday incident came just months after both Jackson and his wife were hospitalized in August after testing positive for COVID-19. His nonprofit confirmed at the time that the two were being treated at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where doctors were said to be “monitoring the condition of both.” Jackson was later transferred to Chicago’s Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, a therapy facility, to help treat his Parkinson’s disease. Jackson was diagnosed with the neurological disorder, which can cause tremors, stiffness and difficulty balancing, walking and coordinating movement, in 2017.

“My family and I began to notice changes about three years ago. 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,” he shared in a statement at the time. “For me, a Parkinson’s diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease’s progression.”

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson is a two-time Democratic presidential candidate and a longtime civil rights leader. He walked from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and later established an office for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Chicago at the request of King. He also successfully negotiated for the release of three U.S. soldiers who had been held in Yugoslavia and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton.