Al Sharpton: Biography from Answers.com

To critics, he is known as "Al Charlatan" or "Rev. Soundbite," a rabble-rousing racial ambulance chaser who never met a video camera he didn't like. To others Al Sharpton (born 1954) is a voice for the disenfranchised, an intelligent, articulate activist who knows how to play the media and speak for the underclass.

The Reverend Al Sharpton has emerged as a voice that people listen to - even if they don't like what they hear. Sharpton, a Pentecostal minister without a parish, uses his theatrical style and inflammatory rhetoric to make himself as familiar a front-page figure as New York City residents Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley. The self-declared civil rights leader injected himself into many of the city's stickiest issues - the Tawana Brawley case, the Bensonhurst racial murder trial, the Bernhard Goetz shooting - often making himself part of the controversy.

Even Sharpton's harshest critics admit he touches a nerve by tapping into a vein of black discontent with white society. Revelations that would devastate other leaders, such as the news that Sharpton secretly worked as an FBI informant and tape-recorded conversations with blacks, rarely stick to Sharpton because they merely confirm the view of his supporters that the white media and the white criminal justice system are out to get him.

Creature of Media

Sharpton is "a creature of the New York media," Wilbert Tatum, publisher of New York's black newspaper, the Amsterdam News, told Newsday. "When they saw Al Sharpton, who was articulate, fat and wore jogging suits, with a medallion around his neck and processed hair, they thought that he would be the kind of caricature of black leadership they could use effectively to editorialize without editorializing at all…. While white media were using Al as a caricature, he was organizing the troops to do what respected black leadership could not do: speak to the issues without fear or favor, and use media in the process. Media thought they were using Al, and Al was using media."

On January 12, 1991 Sharpton was stabbed in the chest minutes before he was to lead a protest march through a predominantly white Brooklyn neighborhood where a black teenager was slain by a mob of white youths two years earlier. In stable condition at the hospital the next day, he did something typical - he called a press conference. As Esquire's Mike Sager wrote, "Sharpton has been defined by his sound bites, nine or 10 seconds of the most explosive rhetoric the reporter or TV producer can find. Of course, Sharpton comes from a tradition of hyperbole; he started preaching in the Pentecostal church at age four."

Born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn where he still lives, Sharpton was drawn to the spotlight at a young age. He says that he decided early on to become a preacher, and began delivering sermons before entering kindergarten. By 13, he had become an ordained Pentecostal minister and was known as "the boy wonder," preaching gospel in local churches and accompanying entertainers such as Mahalia Jackson on national religious tours.

Sharpton graduated from Brooklyn's Tilden High School, a classmate and friend of longtime major league baseball player Willie Randolph. He briefly attended Brooklyn College before dropping out. Sharpton's father was a well-off contractor who bought a new car each year. But when Al was ten, he told the Los Angeles Times, his father deserted the family, forcing his mother to work as a cleaning woman and go on welfare. After his father left, Sharpton attached himself to a series of father figures, from U.S. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell to Jesse Jackson to singer James Brown.

Became Youth Director

In 1969 Jackson, then a young Chicago minister, named the 14-year-old Sharpton as youth director of his group, Operation Breadbasket. Around the same time, Sharpton grew close to Brown, whose son, a friend of Sharpton's, had been killed in a car accident. "He sort of adopted me," Sharpton told the Washington Post. "He lost a son, didn't have a father, so he made me his godson." Brown hired the stout teenager as a bodyguard, and introduced him to his business agents. Before he even finished high school, Sharpton was working in the concert promotion business.

Brown introduced Sharpton to two other people who would figure prominently in his life. One was backup singer Kathy Jordan, whom Sharpton met in 1972 and married in l983. (Together they have two daughters, and Jordan now works for the U.S. Army.) The other was boxing promoter Don King, whom Sharpton met in 1974 while promoting a Brown concert that coincided with the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman heavyweight title fight. Soon, Sharpton was seen at the ringside of major prize fights. Years later, Sharpton and King would team up to win a $500,000 contract to promote Michael Jackson after threatening to organize a boycott of Jackson's concert tour because of lack of minority involvement.

In the early 1970s Sharpton founded the National Youth Movement, an organization with the stated purpose of fighting drugs and raising money for ghetto youth. As the l6-year-old director of the organization, Sharpton made his first newspaper headlines in 1971 by urging black children in Harlem to participate in the African celebration of Kwanza instead of traditional Christmas events. The organization was later renamed the United African Movement, which Sharpton touted as a charitable anti-drug group with 30,000 members in 16 cities. But Victor Genecin, a New York state prosecutor, told the Washington Post that the group was "never anything more than a one-room office in Brooklyn with a telephone and an ever-changing handful of staffers who took Al Sharpton's messages and ran his errands."

Began Protesting

In 1974 Sharpton again made headlines when he led a group of older black leaders into a meeting with New York City's deputy mayor to protest the police shooting and death of a 14-year-old black youth. The meeting was prompted by a Sharpton-led demonstration of 500 people at City Hall. Later in the decade Sharpton began experimenting with protest tactics of disorderly conduct. He was arrested for the first time in 1970 after a sit-in at New York City Hall to demand more summer jobs for teenagers. Later, he was ejected from a Board of Education meeting after sitting in front of the board president during a protest. Another time, he led a group along Wall Street, painting red X marks on office buildings he claimed were fronts for drug dealing. Sharpton told the Washington Post he borrowed such tactics from Martin Luther King, Jr. "How did King establish his leadership? By marching, by putting people in the streets. Tell me when in the history of the civil rights movement the goal wasn't to stir things up."

By and large, however, Sharpton was not known beyond his Brooklyn neighborhood. That changed in 1984, when he led the demands for a murder indictment for white subway gunman Bernhard Goetz, who shot four unarmed black teenagers he said were trying to rob him. Goetz was indicted on a murder charge but acquitted on all but minor gun charges. As Goetz's trial unfolded, Sharpton led daily protests on the courthouse steps, often finding his way onto the nightly news.

Sharpton gained national prominence with his tactics in the 1986 Howard Beach racial killing. In that case, three black men leaving a pizza parlor in the community were assaulted by a group of bat-wielding white youths. One black man died when he was chased into traffic and run over by a car. Sharpton led a "Days of Outrage" protest that shut down traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge and halted subway service in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A year later, he became closely involved with the case of 15-year-old Tawana Brawley, an upstate New York girl who claimed she was raped by five or six white men, one of whom had a police officer's badge. Sharpton, as one of Brawley's three "advisers," publicly accused several officers of the crime and persuaded Brawley not to cooperate with the state investigation. Eventually, several inquiries strongly indicated that Brawley had fabricated the entire incident.

Sharpton "seemed utterly out of control, likening the state attorney general to Adolf Hitler and demanding the arrest of Duchess County officials without a shred of proof," wrote the Philadelphia Inquirer's Claude Lewis. "Both Brawley and Sharpton proved to be among the saddest of figures, using their talents at deceit to fool the public. They thought that by merely being mysterious they could bamboozle us. They refused to speak specifics about the case and employed mysticism to enhance charges of racism to put the authorities in a defensive position. Both proved to be virtuosos at distorting reality. They are brazen people with no scruples." Sharpton remains unrepentant about his role in the Brawley case. "We don't let nothing slip through the cracks, and that case is still unresolved," he told the Los Angeles Times. "We've only won when we hit the streets and stay out in the streets and keep this town in disruption."

To the amazement of many, Sharpton survived his curious role in the Brawley affair, as well as revelations in 1988 that he was an informant for the FBI. Sharpton confirmed that for five years he secretly supplied federal law enforcement agencies with information on Don King, reputed organized crime figures, black leaders, and elected officials.

Sharpton a Survivor

In 1989 and 1990 Sharpton again beat the odds, prompting Newsday columnist Murray Kempton to compare him to "a cat who has nine lives. He just keeps surviving." First, Sharpton beat a tax evasion rap, which he called a government vendetta. Then, in 1990, he was acquitted on charges that he pocketed more than half of the $250,000 he raised through the National Youth Movement. At the beginning of the case, Sharpton wrote to the grand jury: "Since I was a young child, I was a minister. I know no other life than serving others and allowing God to take care of me. I never owned a car, house, jewelry, etc. My intent is my causes, not wealth."

Sharpton's most recent cause was Yusef Hawkins, a black 16-year-old who was killed by a bat-wielding mob in Bensonhurst in August 1989. The murder stunned New York, which was already beset by spiraling racial tensions. To many New Yorkers it symbolized a breakdown in racial civility that had no quick explanation or readily available cure. Hawkins's father, Moses Stewart, called Sharpton for help the day after the murder. "I wanted someone who was going to take my plight and scream for justice," Stewart told the Washington Post. "I didn't want anyone to come to me with a compromise. I wanted the world to know that my son was murdered because he was black. This is what Sharpton does. He brings it to the forefront."

Sharpton led protest marches through Bensonhurst and led a group standing a noisy vigil outside the courtroom where two white teens were being tried for Hawkins's murder. Not-guilty verdicts, Sharpton told Timemagazine, would be "telling us to burn down the city." Eventually, one of the teens was convicted for the murder.

Recovers from Stabbing

On January 12, 1991, while preparing to lead a march in that same Bensonhurst neighborhood to protest the light sentence given to Hawkins's killer, Sharpton was attacked by a man who stabbed him in the chest. The attack occurred in front of more than 15 supporters and 100 police officers. Sharpton was hospitalized, but officials said his wound was not serious. Michael Riccardi, 27, of Bensonhurst, was immediately arrested and charged with the stabbing.

Shortly following this incident, Sharpton visited London in the Spring of 1991 in an attempt to call attention to the killing of Rolan Adams, a black London teenager who had been allegedly stabbed to death by a gang of whites. However, Sharpton was less then credible with his facts - he did not know Adam's correct name or age and showed marked confusion over police attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Sharpton quickly returned to New York where citizens and the media were more amenable to his often outrageous charges and accusations than their English counterparts.

In early 1992 Michael Riccardi was found guilty of stabbing Sharpton and was sentenced to a 5-15 year jail term. Sharpton, always aware of the media spotlight, pleaded on his assailants behalf and asked Judge Francis X. Egitto for leniency when sentencing Riccardi. In a show of Christian forgiveness Sharpton told the court that with the proper help Riccardi could be rehabilitated.

In April 1993 Sharpton was recognized as a "… dedicated leader who remains steadfast in the fight for equality" when he was presented with the National Action Network Award. At the awards ceremony New York City Councilman Adam Clayton Powell IV and New York mayor David Dinkins had nothing but accolades for Sharpton. Now that he was being praised by politicians why not become one? In late 1992 Sharpton had entered the New York U.S. Senate primary and ran a lively if futile campaign against Geraldine Ferraro and garnered a surprisingly high 166,000 votes. In 1993 talk of a senate seat for Sharpton was revived and there was much talk in his camp mounting a similar campaign against Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was hoped by some, and undoubtedly feared by others, that Sharpton's name on the ballot would empower many otherwise disenfranchised-enfranchised black voters. Sharpton subsequently mounted an aggressive primary challenge to Moynihan but the New York Times dubbed it as a campaign more "… pragmatically aimed at feeding his own outsider's ascendancy in black politics." He did not win the primary but he did win a place as a power-broker on the New York political scene.

Changes Demeanor

With the Tawana Brawley fiasco all but forgotten and with Sharpton now being courted by various politicos his demeanor was rapidly changing. In 1995 New York said Sharpton was no longer the "Winnie Mandela of African-American politics," but was rather adopting a more conciliatory style reminiscent of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With Sharpton's entry into mainstream politics a kinder and gentler Al was calling for racial harmony and a Christian attack on the politics of meanness. Leading a 1995 March from New York City to Albany in protest of Governor George Pataki's budget cuts Sharpton told his fellow marchers:

There is a mean-spiritedness in the land. If the poor can be scapegoated today, who can be tomorrow? It's as though it's somehow criminal to be unfortunate. Over 60 percent of the children who are classified as poor in this country are the children of people who work every day. This is a battle for the soul of this country. A battle between the Christian right and the right Christians. The Christian right says cut the poor. The right Christians say feed the poor.

In a December 1995 article Newsday wrote that to his admirers Sharpton is an authentic leader, a courageous standard-bearer, and a champion of causes where others fear to tread. To his detractors however Sharpton is an inflammatory race-baiting agitator and a "… self-aggrandizing, publicity-seeking manipulator of the media." Sharpton took it all in stride, he's heard it all before, and announced a possible challenge to Rudolph Giuliani's mayoralty. On June 21, 1997, he formally announced his candidacy for New York City's Democratic mayoral nomination.

In 1996 Sharpton published his autobiography Go and tell Pharaoh: the autobiography of Reverend Al Sharpton.

Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton, November 2007
Born	Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr. October 3, 1954 (1954-10-03) (age 55) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Residence	New York, NY
Occupation	Baptist minister, civil rights/social justice activist, radio talk show host
Political party	Democratic
Religious beliefs	Baptist
Spouse(s)	Kathy Jordan

Personal and religious life

“	What I do functionally is what Dr. King, Reverend Jackson and the movement are all about; but I learned manhood from James Brown. I always say that James Brown taught me how to be a man.	”
—Sharpton on Brown as a father figure., ^[11]

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Alfred Charles Sharpton, Sr. and Ada Sharpton.^[12] He preached his first sermon at the age of four and toured with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.^[13]

In 1963, Sharpton's father left his wife to have a relationship with Sharpton's half-sister. Ada Sharpton took a job as a maid, but her income was so low that the family qualified for welfare and had to move from middle class Hollis, Queens, to the public housing projects in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.^[14]

Sharpton graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, and attended Brooklyn College, dropping out after two years in 1975.^[15] He became a tour manager for James Brown in 1971, where he met his future wife, Kathy Jordan, who was a backup singer.^[16] Sharpton and Jordan married in 1980.^[17] The couple separated in 2004.^[18]

Sharpton was licensed and ordained a Pentecostal minister by Bishop F.D. Washington at the age of nine^[19] or ten.^[20] After Bishop Washington's death in the late 1980s, Sharpton became a Baptist. He was re-baptized as a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in 1994 by the Reverend William Jones^[21] and became a Baptist minister.^[19]^[22]

During 2007, Sharpton participated in a public debate with Christopher Hitchens, who is an atheist, and Sharpton defended his religious faith and his belief in the existence of God.^[23]^[24]

Assassination attempt

On January 12, 1991, Sharpton escaped serious injury when he was stabbed in the chest by Michael Riccardi while Sharpton was preparing to lead a protest through Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. The intoxicated attacker was apprehended by Sharpton's aides and handed over to police who were present for the planned protest. Sharpton, although forgiving his attacker and pleading for leniency on his behalf, filed suit against New York City alleging that the many police present had failed to protect him from his attacker. In December 2003 he finally reached a $200,000 settlement^[25] with the city just as jury selection was about to start.

Indirect familial relation to Strom Thurmond

In February 2007, genealogists using the website Ancestry.com discovered that Sharpton's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed during the Civil War.

Thurmond was notable as the longest serving Senator (at the time of his death) who was a major advocate of racial segregation during the middle of the twentieth century.^[26] Thurmond's illegitimate daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, stated she would welcome Sharpton to the family if a DNA test shows he is a relative.^[27] In an interview, Sharpton said he has no plans for the DNA test to see if he is related.^[11]

The Sharpton family name originated with Coleman Sharpton's previous slave-owner, who was named Alexander Sharpton.^[28]

Michael Jackson

Speaking at the Michael Jackson memorial service on July 7, 2009, Sharpton received a standing ovation for a rousing eulogy, which included telling Jackson's children from the stage, "Wasn't nothing strange about your Daddy. It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."^[29]

Activism

Wikinews has related news: Al Sharpton speaks out on race, rights and what bothers him about his critics

In 1969, Sharpton was appointed by Jesse Jackson as youth director of Operation Breadbasket, a group that focused on the promotion of new and better jobs for African-Americans.^[30]

In 1971, Sharpton founded the National Youth Movement to raise resources for impoverished youth.^[31]

Bernhard Goetz

For more details on this topic, see Bernhard Goetz.

Bernhard Goetz shot four African-American men on a New York subway train on December 22, 1984, when they approached him and allegedly tried to rob him. At his trial Goetz was cleared of all charges except criminal possession of a weapon. Sharpton led several marches protesting what he saw as the weak prosecution of the case.^[32]

Sharpton and other civil rights leaders said Goetz's actions were racist and requested a federal civil rights investigation.^[33] A federal investigation concluded the shooting was due to an attempted robbery and not race.^[34]

Howard Beach

On December 20, 1986, three African-American men were assaulted in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens by a mob of white men. The three men were chased by their attackers onto the Belt Parkway, where one of them, Michael Griffith, was struck and killed by a passing motorist.^[35]

A week later, on December 27, Sharpton led 1,200 demonstrators on a march through the streets of Howard Beach. Residents of the neighborhood, who were overwhelmingly white, screamed racial epithets at the protesters, who were largely black.^[36] Sharpton's role in the case, which led to the appointment of a special prosecutor by New York Governor Mario Cuomo after the two surviving victims refused to co-operate with the Queens district attorney, helped propel him to national prominence.

Tawana Brawley controversy

For more details on this topic, see Tawana Brawley rape allegations.

Al Sharpton interviewed in 2007 on whether he is tired of hearing about Tawana Brawley twenty years later.

On November 28, 1987, Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old African American girl, was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the town of Wappinger, New York.

Attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason joined Sharpton in support of Brawley. A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley had fabricated her story. Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason accused the Dutchess County prosecutor, Steven Pagones, of racism and of being one of the perpetrators of the alleged abduction and rape. The three were successfully sued for slander and ordered to pay $345,000 in damages, the jury finding Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox for two, and Mason for one.^[37] Sharpton refused to pay his share of the damages; it was later paid by a number of black business leaders.^[38]

In 2007 Sharpton said he would have accepted the case the same as he does today. The only difference would be he would not have made it so personal with Pagones, but he still felt Brawley had a good case to go to trial. "I disagreed with the grand jury on Brawley," said Sharpton in an interview. "I believed there was enough evidence to go to trial. Grand jury said there wasn’t. Okay, fine. Do I have a right to disagree with the grand jury? Many Americans believe O.J. Simpson was guilty. A jury said he wasn’t. So I have as much right to question a jury as they do. Does it make somebody a racist? No! They just disagreed with the jury. So did I." ^[11]

Bensonhurst

On August 23, 1989, four African-American teenagers were beaten by a group of 10 to 30 white youths in Bensonhurst, a Brooklyn neighborhood. One Bensonhurst resident, armed with a handgun, shot and killed sixteen-year-old Yusef Hawkins.

In the weeks following the assault and murder, Sharpton led several marches through Bensonhurst. The first protest, just days after the incident, was greeted by neighborhood residents shouting "Niggers go home" and holding watermelons to mock the demonstrators.^[39]

In May 1990, when one of the two leaders of the mob was acquitted of the most serious charges brought against him, Sharpton led another protest through Bensonhurst. In January 1991, when other members of the gang were given light sentences, Sharpton planned another march for January 12, 1991. Before that demonstration began, neighborhood resident Michael Riccardi tried to kill Sharpton by stabbing him in the chest.^[40] Sharpton recovered from his wounds, and later asked the judge for leniency when Riccardi was sentenced.^[41]

National Action Network

Al Sharpton at National Action Network's headquarters.

In 1991, Sharpton founded the National Action Network, an organization designed to increase voter education, to provide services to those in poverty, and to support small community businesses.^[21]

Crown Heights Riot

For more details on this topic, see Crown Heights riot.

The Crown Heights riot began on August 19, 1991, after a car driven by a Jewish man, and part of a procession led by an unmarked police car, went through an intersection and was struck by another vehicle causing it to veer onto the sidewalk where it accidentally struck and killed a seven-year-old Guyanese boy named Gavin Cato and severely injured his cousin Angela. Witnesses could not agree upon the speed and could not agree whether the light was yellow or red. One of the factors that sparked the riot was the arrival of a private ambulance which, on the orders of a police officer worried for the Jewish driver's safety, removed the uninjured driver from the scene while Cato lay pinned under his car.^[42] Cato and his cousin were treated soon after by a city ambulance. Caribbean-American and African-American residents of the neighborhood rioted for four consecutive days fueled by rumors that the private ambulance had refused to treat Cato.^[38]^[42] During the riot blacks looted stores,^[42] beat Jews in the street,^[42] and clashed with groups of Jews, hurling rocks and bottles at one another ^[43] after Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, was stabbed and killed by a member of a mob shouting "Kill the Jew."^[44] Sharpton, who arranged a rally in Crown Heights after Cato's death,^[42] has been seen by some commentators as inflaming tensions by making remarks that included "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house"^[45] and referring to Jews as "diamond merchants."^[46]

Sharpton marched through Crown Heights and in front of "770", shortly after the riot, with about 400 protesters (who chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "No justice, no peace!"), in spite of Mayor David Dinkins's attempts to keep the march from happening.^[47]

Freddie's Fashion Mart

In 1995, a black Pentecostal Church, the United House of Prayer, which owned a retail property on 125th Street, asked Fred Harari, a Jewish tenant who operated Freddie's Fashion Mart, to evict his longtime subtenant, a black-owned record store called The Record Shack. Sharpton led a protest in Harlem against the planned eviction of The Record Shack.^[48]^[49]^[50] Sharpton told the protesters, "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."^[51]

On December 8, 1995, Roland J. Smith Jr., one of the protesters, entered Harari's store with a gun and flammable liquid, shot several customers and set the store on fire. The gunman fatally shot himself, and seven store employees died of smoke inhalation.^[52]^[53] Fire Department officials discovered that the store's sprinkler had been shut down, in violation of the local fire code.^[54] Sharpton claimed that the perpetrator was an open critic of himself and his nonviolent tactics. Sharpton later expressed regret for making the racial remark, "white interloper," and denied responsibility for inflaming or provoking the violence.^[13]^[55]

Amadou Diallo

Main article: Amadou Diallo

In 1999, Sharpton led a protest to raise awareness about the death of Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea who was shot to death by NYPD officers. Sharpton claimed that Diallo's death was the result of police brutality and racial profiling. Diallo's family was later awarded $3 million in a wrongful death suit filed against the city.^[56]

Vieques

For more details on this topic, see Navy-Vieques protests.

In 2001, Sharpton was jailed for 90 days for protesting against U.S. military target practice exercises in Puerto Rico near a United States Navy bombing site.^[57]

Ousmane Zongo

In 2002, Sharpton was involved in protests following the death of West African immigrant Ousmane Zongo. Zongo, who was unarmed, was shot by an undercover police officer during a raid on a warehouse in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Sharpton met with the family and also provided some legal services.^[58]

Sean Bell

For more details on this topic, see Sean Bell shooting incident.

On November 25, 2006, Sean Bell was shot and killed in the Jamaica section of Queens in New York City by plainclothes detectives from the New York Police Department in a hail of 50 bullets. The incident sparked fierce criticism of the police from the public and drew comparisons to the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo. Three of the five detectives involved in the shooting went to trial in 2008 on charges ranging from manslaughter to reckless endangerment but were found not guilty.

On May 7, 2008, in response to the acquittals of the officers, Sharpton co-ordinated peaceful protests at major transportation centers in New York City, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Sharpton and about 200 others were arrested.^[59]

Dunbar Village

On March 11, 2007, Sharpton held a press conference to highlight what he said was unequal treatment of four suspected rapists in a high-profile crime in the Dunbar Village Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspects, who were young black men, were arrested for allegedly raping and beating a black Haitian woman at gunpoint. The crime also involved forcing the woman to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.^[60]

At his press conference Sharpton said that any violent act toward a woman is inexcusable but he felt that the accused youths were being treated unfairly because they were black. Sharpton contrasted the treatment of the suspects, who remain in jail, with white suspects involved in a gang rape who were released after posting bond.^[60]

Political views

2008 presidential race

In September 2007, when he was asked whether he thought it was important for America to have a black president, Sharpton said, "It would be a great moment as long as the black candidate was supporting the interest that would inevitably help our people. A lot of my friends went with Clarence Thomas and regret it to this day. I don't assume that just because somebody's my color, they're my kind. But I'm warming up to Obama, but I'm not there yet."^[61]

Gay rights

Sharpton is a supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians, including same-sex marriage. During his presidential campaign in 2003, Sharpton said he thought it was insulting to be asked to discuss the issue of gay marriage. "It's like asking do I support black marriage or white marriage.... The inference of the question is that gays are not like other human beings."^[62]

Sharpton is leading a grassroots movement to eliminate homophobia within the Black church.^[63]

Animal rights

Sharpton has also spoken out against cruelty to animals in a video recorded for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).^[64]

Controversy

Sharpton was quoted as saying to an audience at Kean College in 1994 that, “White folks was [sic] in caves while we was building empires.... We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.”^[65] Sharpton defended his comments by noting that the term "homo" was not homophobic but added that he no longer uses the term.^[66] Sharpton has since called for an end to homophobia in the African-American community.^[67]

During 2007, Sharpton was accused of bigotry for comments he made on May 7, 2007, concerning presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his religion, Mormonism:

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation."^[68]^[69]

In response, a representative for Romney told reporters that "bigotry toward anyone because of their beliefs is unacceptable."^[70] The Catholic League compared Sharpton to Don Imus, and said that his remarks "should finish his career".^[71]

On May 9, during an interview on Paula Zahn NOW, Sharpton said that his views on Mormonism were based on the Mormon Church's traditionally racist views regarding blacks and its interpretation of the so-called "Curse of Ham".^[72] On May 10, Sharpton called two apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apologized to them for his remarks and asked to meet with them.^[73] A spokesman for the Church confirmed that Sharpton had called and said that "we appreciate it very much, Rev. Sharpton's call, and we consider the matter closed."^[74] He also apologized to "any member of the Mormon church" who was offended by his comments.^[74] Later that month, Sharpton went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he met with Elder M. Russell Ballard, a leader of the Church, and Elder Robert C. Oaks of the Church's Presidency of the Seventy.^[75]^[76]

Political campaigns

Sharpton has run unsuccessfully for elected office on multiple occasions. Of his unsuccessful runs, he said that winning office may not have been his goal. "Much of the media criticism of me assumes their goals and they impose them on me," said Sharpton in an interview. "Well, those might not be my goals. So they will say, 'Well, Sharpton has not won a political office.' But that might not be my goal! Maybe I ran for political office to change the debate, or to raise the social justice question."^[11] Sharpton ran for a United States Senate seat from New York in 1988, 1992, and 1994. In 1997, he ran for Mayor of New York City.

On January 5, 2003 Sharpton announced his candidacy for the 2004 presidential election as a member of the Democratic Party.

On March 15, 2004, Sharpton announced his endorsement of leading Democratic candidate John Kerry.

On December 15, 2005, Sharpton agreed to repay $100,000 in public funds he received from the federal government for his 2004 Presidential campaign. The repayment was required because Sharpton had exceeded federal limits on personal expenditures for his campaign. At that time his most recent Federal Election Commission filings (from January 1, 2005) stated that Sharpton's campaign still had debts of $479,050 and owed Sharpton himself $145,146 for an item listed as "Fundraising Letter Preparation — Kinko's."^[77]

In 2009 the Federal Election Commission announced it had levied a fine of $285,000 against Sharpton's 2004 presidential campaign for breaking campaign finance rules during his presidential campaign.^[78]^[79]

On April 2, 2007, Sharpton announced that he would not enter the 2008 presidential race. "I am not going to run," he said.^[30]

Celebrity status

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Sharpton has made cameo appearances in the movies Cold Feet, Bamboozled, Mr. Deeds, and Malcolm X. He also has appeared in episodes of the television shows New York Undercover, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Girlfriends, My Wife and Kids, Rescue Me and Boston Legal. He hosted the original Spike TV reality television show I Hate My Job, and an episode of Saturday Night Live. He was a guest on Weekends at the DL on Comedy Central and has been featured in television ads for the Fernando Ferrer campaign for the New York City mayoral election, 2005. He also made a cameo appearance by telephone on the Food Network series, The Secret Life Of . . ., when host Jim O'Connor expressed disbelief that a restaurant owner who'd named a dish after Sharpton actually knew him.

During the 2005 Tony Awards, Sharpton appeared in a number put on by the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

In June 2005, Sharpton signed a contract with Matrix Media to produce and host a live two-hour daily talk program, which did not air. In November 2005, Sharpton signed with Radio One to host a daily national talk radio program which began airing on January 30, 2006 entitled Keepin It Real with Al Sharpton.

Tax issues

On May 9, 2008, the Associated Press reported that Sharpton and his businesses owed almost $1.5 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. Sharpton owed $931,000 in federal income tax and $366,000 to New York, and his for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owed another $176,000 to the state.^[8]

On June 19, 2008, the New York Post reported that the Internal Revenue Service had sent subpoenas to several corporations that had donated to Sharpton's National Action Network. In 2007 New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating the National Action Network, because it failed to make proper financial reports, as required for non-profits.^[80] According to the Post, several major corporations, including Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive, have donated thousands of dollars to the National Action Network. The Post asserted that the donations were made to prevent boycotts or rallies by the National Action Network.^[81]

Sharpton countered the investigative actions with a charge that they reflected a political agenda by United States agencies.^[82]

Bibliography

Go and Tell Pharaoh, Doubleday, 1996. ISBN 0-385-47583-7
Al on America, Dafina Books, 2002. ISBN 0-7582-0350-0

References

^ "National Action Network – About Us". http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/about.html.
^ "Fox News – Bio: Rev. Al Sharpton". http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,75751,00.html.
^ "Radio One – Rev. Al Sharpton, Author Michael Eric Dyson and Atlanta’s ‘2 Live Stews’ Go National with News/Talk Network". http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20060130/NYM12630012006-1.html.
^ "Al Sharpton On Ties To Sen. Thurmond". Fox News. 2007-02-27. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254922,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
^ "Al Sharpton Talks with Bill O'Reilly". The O'Reilly Factor. 2005-04-13. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153366,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
^ "Bill O'Reilly Interview Al Sharpton". Ifilm. 2006-02-02. http://www.ifilm.com/video/2696442. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Clarence (2002). Black Religious Intellectuals: The Fight for Equality from Jim Crow to the 21st Century. New York: Routledge. pp. 127. ISBN 0415933269.
^ ^a ^b Caruso, David B. (May 9, 2008). "Records show Sharpton owes overdue taxes, other penalties". Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZA6sc_14O4agthuje91acQjpgJwD90IFIAG0. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
^ Taylor. Black Religious Intellectuals. pp. 118.
^ ^a ^b Taylor. Black Religious Intellectuals. pp. 120.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Interview with Al Sharpton, David Shankbone, Wikinews, December 3, 2007.
^ William Addams Reitwiesner. "Ancestry of Rev. Al Sharpton". http://www.wargs.com/political/sharpton.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ ^a ^b Alexandra Marks (2003-12-03). "The Rev. Al Sharpton's latest crusade". The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1203/p01s04-uspo.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ Jack Newfield (2002-01-07). "Rev Vs. Rev". New York. http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/2004race/5570/. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ Scott Sherman (2001-04-16). "He Has a Dream". The Nation. pp. p. 4. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010416/sherman. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ "Campaign 2004: Alfred Sharpton". USAToday.com. 2005-05-20. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/sharptonprofile.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ "Rev. Al Sharpton And Wife Kathy Renew Their Wedding Vows". Jet. 2001-01-17. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_100/ai_78729057. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ "Al Sharpton, wife announce separation". USA TODAY. 2004-11-07. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-11-07-sharpton_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
^ ^a ^b "Al Sharpton Interview Transcript". Morning Edition. National Public Radio. 2003-06-13. http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/democrats2004/transcripts/sharpton_trans.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ "Reverend Al Sharpton". Greater Talent Network Speakers Bureau. http://www.greatertalent.com/AlSharpton. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
^ ^a ^b Stefan Friedman. "Reverend Al Sharpton's Bio". National Action Network. http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/html/history.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ "Rev. Al Sharpton gets baptized in Brooklyn; former Pentecostal minister becomes a Baptist". Jet. 1994-02-28. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n17_v85/ai_14878964. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
^ Matthew Chayes (2007-05-08). "Hitchens, Sharpton Spar Over the Almighty". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/article/54047. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
^ "Al Sharpton and Christopher Hitchens." FORA.tv. 7 May 2007. 6 August 2009.
^ NYC to Pay $200K to Al Sharpton in Case Against NYPD: Top News Stories at Officer.com
^ Alan Goldman, Slavery ties Sharpton to Thurmond, Associated Press, February 25, 2007.
^ Katrina A. Goggins, Thurmond Child Says Sharpton Overreacted, Associated Press, February 27, 2007.
^ Al Sharpton Jr., My link to Strom Thurmond, Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2007.
^ /07/michaeljackson Liveblogging Michael Jackson's funeral and memorial service, The Guardian, July 7, 2009; see Sharpton's eulogy here.
^ ^a ^b Candidates - Al Sharpton, CNN's "America Votes 2004", web site accessed 7 April 2007
^ Sharpton Biography, thehistorymakers.com, web site access 7 April 2007
^ Michael Slackman, "Sharpton Runs for Presidency, and Influence", The New York Times, December 5, 2003.
^ "U.S. Prosecution Of Goetz Sought", The New York Times, January 29, 1985.
^ David E. Pitt, "Blacks See Goetz Verdict As Blow To Race Relations", The New York Times, June 18, 1987.
^ Robert D. McFadden, "Black Man Dies After Beating In Queens", New York Times, December 21, 1986.
^ Ronald Smothers, "1,200 Protesters Of Racial Attack March In Queens", New York Times, December 28, 1986.
^ "Winner in Brawley suit says victory is bittersweet". CNN. Last updated: 1998-14-01. http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/13/brawley.verdict.02/. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ ^a ^b "The skeletons and suits in Sharpton's closet". Salon.com. http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/06/20/sharpton/index.html?pn=2. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ Nick Ravo, "Marchers and Brooklyn Youths Trade Racial Jeers", New York Times, August 27, 1989.
^ Robert D. McFadden, "Sharpton Is Stabbed at Bensonhurst Protest", New York Times, January 13, 1991.
^ Lee A. Daniels, "Attacker Of Sharpton Is Sentenced", New York Times, March 17, 1992.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "As a Divided Community Begins to Forget, a Court Reopens Old Wounds in Crown Heights". The Village Voice. Last updated: 2002-22-01. http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0203,kamber,31532,1.html. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ John Kifner (1991-08-21). "A Boy's Death Ignites Clashes in Crown Heights". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D6173EF932A1575BC0A967958260. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
^ "Things Go Seriously Wrong". The Gotham Gazette. Last updated: 2003-06-01. http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20030602/4/408. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ Lowery, Mark (1991-08-18). "Sharpton Calls For a Boycott Of Classes". Newsday. p. 5.
^ "Sharpton’s Victory". National Review Online. Last updated: 2003-03-12. http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200312030840.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ Blacks March by Hasidim Through a Corridor of Blue by JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); August 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 36
^ Sexton, Joe (1995-12-09). "Bad Luck and Horror for Seven in a Shop". New York Times. p. 1.
^ Pyle, Richard (1995-12-12). "New Yorker Reflect on a Massacre in Harlem". Albany Times Union/Associated Press. p. B2.
^ Barry, Dan (1995-12-09). "DEATH ON 128TH STREET: THE DISPUTE; Plans to Evict Record-Shop Owner Roiled Residents". New York Times: p. 31. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/09/nyregion/death-128th-street-dispute-plans-evict-record-shop-owner-roiled-residents.html?scp=1&sq=Plans%20to%20Evict%20Record%20Shop%20Owner%20Roiled%20Residents&st=cse. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
^ Lowry, Rich (2003-12-03). "Sharpton's Victory". National Review. http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200312030840.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
^ Kifner, John (1995-12-09). "Eight killed in Harlem arson, Gunman among dead". San Francisco Chronicle. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/12/09/MN74133.DTL. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
^ Sexton, John (1995-12-18). "A Life of Resistance: A Special Report;Gunman's Ardent Credo: Black Self-Sufficiency". New York Times. Smith was found with a card identifying himself as Aboudima Moulika and he had also used the name Abugunde Mulocko.
^ Inquiry Traces Sprinkler System Failure in Fatal Harlem Fire. The New York Times. December 15, 1995.
^ "Al Sharpton for president?". The Phoenix.com. Last updated: 2002-07-03. http://bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/02179035.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ "$3 Million Deal in Police Killing of Diallo in '99". CNN. Last updated: 2004-07-01. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/nyregion/07DIAL.html?ei=5007&en=d206d2bc3e5b387d&ex=1388898000&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position=. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ Lipton, Eric (2001-05-24). "Sharpton and 3 from Bronx are jailed in Vieques Protest". New York Times. p. 1.
^ As Outrage Mounts in New York Over the Police Killing of Another African Immigrant, Democracy Now! Interviews Kadiatou Diallo, Mother of Amadou Diallo., Democracy Now!, Tuesday, May 27th, 2003
^ Lueck, Thomas J. (May 7, 2008). "Bell Protesters Block Traffic Across City". The New York Times. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/protesters-assail-acquittal-of-officers-in-sean-bell-case/index.html?hp. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
^ ^a ^b Othón, Nancy L. (March 11, 2008). "Sharpton says Dunbar Village defendants being treated unfairly". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 14, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080314141109/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-311sharpton,0,1042033.story. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
^ Murphy, Keith (August 1, 2007). "Al Sharpton on Barack Obama". Vibe. http://www.vibe.com/obama/2007/08/sharpton_obama/. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
^ Sandalow, Marc (July 16, 2003). "Democrats divided on gay marriage". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/07/16/MN75663.DTL. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
^ Sharpton Chides Black Churches Over Homophobia, Gay Marriage, Dyana Bagby, Houston Voice, January 24, 2006
^ Rev. Al Sharpton Preaches Compassion for Chickens, Kentuckyfriedcruelty.com, web site accessed 7 April 2007
^ Foolish Words: The Most Stupid Words Ever Spoken
^ The Skeletons and Suits in Sharpton's Closet, Salon.com, June 20, 2003
^ Sharpton Pledges Fight Against Homophobia Among Blacks, The New York Sun, August 3, 2005
^ Sharpton accused of 'bigotry' after remark on faith, CNN, May 9, 2007.
^ audio file
^ Sharpton denies disputing Romney's faith, USA Today, May 9, 2007.
^ Catholic League Calls For End of Sharpton's Career, KSL-TV, May 10, 2007.
^ Romney Accuses Sharpton of a Bigoted Remark, The New York Times, May 10, 2007.
^ Sharpton apologizes to LDS Church apostles, Deseret Morning News, May 10, 2007.
^ ^a ^b Sharpton apologizes, plans Utah trip, Deseret Morning News, May 11, 2007.
^ The Rev. Al Sharpton Completes Visit to Church Headquarters, Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, May 22, 2007.
^ 'Common ground' — Sharpton tours, meets with apostle, Deseret Morning News, May 22, 2007.
^ "Sharpton Returns Public Funds". Washington Post. Last updated: 2007-16-12. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501824.html. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
^ "FEC Reaches Settlement with Rev. Al Sharpton, Sharpton 2004 and Non-profit Corporation". April 30, 2009. http://www.fec.gov/press/press2009/20090430MUR_Sharpton.shtml. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
^ David B. Caruso (April 30, 2009). "Sharpton fined, but feels vindicated in FEC probe". http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/30/national/a173941D63.DTL. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
^ Chuck Bennett, "Subpoena Blitz Puts Heat on Al", New York Post, June 19, 2008.
^ Isabel Vincent and Susan Edelman, "Rev. Al Soaks Up Boycott Bucks: Biz Giants Pay or Face Race Rallies", New York Post, June 15, 2008.
^ Marzulli, John (2008-06-20). "Sharpton gets big gun to fend off feds". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/06/19/2008-06-19_sharpton_gets_big_gun_to_fend_off_feds.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Al Sharpton

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton at the Internet Movie Database
The Al Sharpton Show
Salon Interview with Al Sharpton
Text of Democratic National Convention 2004 Speech
The grand jury report on the Brawley case (misdirected link as of 7/09)
A CNN story on the Pagones suit (Defunct as of 7/09)
On the Issues - Al Sharpton issue positions and quotes
Al Sharpton 1988 Poughkeepsie march photograph by photographer/filmmaker Clay Walker

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