Rev. Jesse Jackson, 80, Hospitalized After Falling, Hitting Head

WASHINGTON, DC — The Rev. Jesse Jackson was hospitalized Monday after falling and hitting his head while on campus at Howard University, according to a report from The Grio.

The 80-year-old Chicago native was walking into a campus building while in the area to assist university students protesting poor living conditions on campus, a spokesman for Jackson confirmed.

Staff took Jackson to Howard University Hospital, where he received a CT scan that came back "normal," according to the spokesperson. Jackson was kept in the hospital overnight for observation.

Jackson was attending a meeting with university President Wayne A.I. Frederick and student leaders to address complaints about rodents, mold and flooding in the school's residence halls.

Jackson, a protege of Martin Luther King Jr., Baptist minister and activist, founded the Rainbow/PUSH coalition and ran twice in the Democratic primary for president. He also served as a "shadow" senator from the District of Columbia, which lacks official representation in Congress.

This is the third time Jackson, who has Parkinson's disease, has been hospitalized this year. He checked into a Chicago hospital for a breakthrough COVID-19 case in August and was in the hospital for gallbladder surgery at the beginning of the year.

Since receiving treatment for COVID-19, Jackson has continued physical therapy since the virus affected his Parkinson's, he said in September.