Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, 84, has been hospitalised for observation due to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

“He has been managing this neurodegenerative condition for more than a decade,” the organisation said in a statement obtained by CNN on Wednesday evening.

“He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease however, last April, his PSP condition was confirmed. The family appreciates all prayers at this time.”

No further details about Jackson’s condition have been released. PSP is a rare neurological disorder that affects body movements, walking and balance, and eye movements, according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The disease often begins in a person’s 60s, mimics some Parkinson’s symptoms, and typically leads to severe disability within three to five years.

Jackson, a protégé of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., rose to national prominence in the 1960s and has spent over six decades advocating for racial equality, economic justice, and voter rights.

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In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH to improve economic conditions in Black communities, later establishing the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984 to pursue equal rights for all Americans.

The two organizations merged twelve years later to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, tracing its roots to King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket.

Jackson’s health became publicly notable in 2017 when he disclosed his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, describing it as “painful” and noting it was the disease “that bested my father.”

He said at the time he used the diagnosis as “a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease’s progression.”

In 2021, Jackson underwent gallbladder surgery, was hospitalised for Covid-19 alongside his wife, and later suffered a fall at Howard University, requiring overnight observation.

In July 2023, Jackson retired as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, handing over leadership to Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III.