By April Ryan
Several sources have confirmed that former President Barack Obama phoned Reverend Jesse Jackson over the weekend, who is in Stable Condition at a Chicago Hospital. President Obama is said to have been coordinating with the family for several days before the 44th president reached the civil rights icon.
There have been family connections spanning decades between the Jackson family and the Obamas. In 2008, Jesse Jackson Jr. served as the national co-chair of the Obama Presidential campaign.
On Sunday, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. also received a FaceTime call from Rev. Amos Brown, another Civil Rights pioneer who worked with Jackson. In the 1950s and 1960s, they marched and labored alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for first-class citizenship for African Americans. In the 1970s, the two lieutenants of Dr. King separated and served in different parts of the country.
Brown told this reporter that Jackson recognized him during the FaceTime communication “by his expression and countenance.” The San Francisco Pastor of former Vice President Kamala Harris also says the elder Jackson did not speak, but Brown “encouraged him to fight on as we had fought in the struggle as friends and freedom fighters.”
In a matter of days, politicians, former staffers, and others have also gone to Jackson’s bedside to encourage him during his illness. Some of those include Reverend Al Sharpton.
In a recent written statement, the Jackson family said that Reverend Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome in 2013. In April, the diagnosis changed to supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological disorder.
The family that is constantly by Reverend Jackson’s side in the hospital says, “We believe in the power of prayer, and we are grateful for the overwhelming
outreach and prayers of the faithful. Our father is alert and continues to share his vision for churches and pastors to come together and reduce malnutrition during this period. He is enlisting 2,000 churches and pastors to distribute 2,000 baskets of food, to feed four million families this season,” said son and family spokesperson, Yusef Jackson.
