The Rev Jesse Jackson was taken to hospital in Washington on Monday, after falling and hitting his head while helping Howard University students protesting living conditions on campus, a spokesman said.
Jackson was released on Tuesday after an overnight stay and was back at the university working with students, Jackson’s spokesman, Frank Watkins, said.
The 80-year-old civil rights leader, who ran strongly for the Democratic nomination for president in 1988, was entering a campus building on Monday when he fell and hit his head, according to Watkins.
Jackson’s staff took him to Howard University hospital for tests including a CT scan. Watkins said Jackson would be kept overnight for observation, though test results came back normal.
“Family, he’s resting comfortably and doing well,” Santita Jackson, one of Jackson’s daughters, posted on Twitter.
Jackson was attending a meeting with the Howard president, Wayne AI Frederick, and students who were discussing complaints about living conditions, according to Watkins.
“Never Surrender. Keep Hope Alive”
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) October 30, 2021
After over an hour of dialogue with #BlackburnTakeover Protesters at #HowardUniversity, Reverend Jesse Jackson closes with words of encouragement. pic.twitter.com/uNaoYTzwdd
Jackson, who has Parkinson’s disease, has previously been hospitalized twice this year. He checked into a Chicago hospital for a breakthrough Covid-19 infection in August and required weeks of physical therapy as Covid affected his Parkinson’s and his ability to walk and talk. He also had gallbladder surgery earlier in the year.
Since then, Jackson has resumed a travel and public-speaking schedule.
