The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., is breathing on his own and his condition has stabilized, his family said in a statement Sunday.
Jackson, 84, is a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and after King's assassination became a national civil rights leader, running for president as a Democrat in 1984 and 1988. In the early 1970s, Jackson launched Operation PUSH as a way to improve economic conditions in Black communities across the United States.
He was hospitalized last week to enable doctors to monitor his progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurological condition.
Jackson, the Rainbow PUSH founder, is breathing on his own and not on life support, the family said in a statement meant to correct rumors and inaccurate reports.
"In fact, today he called for 2,000 churches to prepare 2,000 baskets of food to prevent malnutrition during the holiday season,” Jackson's son Yusef Jackson said in the statement.
PSP, which is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, impacts body movements, walking and balance and eye movements, according to the National Institutes of Health.
