Many celebrities wait a while before deciding to tell the public about their Parkinson’s diagnosis, and Rev. Jesse Jackson was one of those people. Jackson, who is currently 80 years old, found out that he had the medical condition in 2015 at the age of 72, but he didn’t reveal the news until 2017, according to NPR. The political and social activist was in denial about the disease, which his father had, but he eventually was forced to seek medical help after noticing some of the telltale symptoms. Jackson said in a statement: “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.” He has tried to remain positive about the condition, vowing to slow its progression through physical therapy and other activities.
Jackson was friends with Martin Luther King, Jr. and, in his own words, has spent his life dedicating his “heart and soul to the fight for justice, equality, and equal access.” One of the ways he has done this is through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a human and civil rights organization.
