Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton Jr.is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, television/radio talk show host and a trusted White House adviser who, according to 60 Minutes, has become President Barack Obama's "go-to black leader." In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts his own radio talk show, Keepin' It Real, and he makes regular guest appearances on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. In 2011, he was named the host of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCivil Rights Leader
Date of Birth3 October 1954
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
The horrific cases in Ferguson, in Staten Island with the death of Eric Garner, and all across the country serve as stark reminders that we must have a say in who polices us, and how that policing is done. We must, we must, let our voices be heard on Election Day.
We're going to show up and turn around this country. This is not the end of the day, this is the beginning of a regeneration of a movement.
The United States government has the obligation to educate all young people in this country.
We need to make some real fundamental change from the Constitution down in this country.
National Action Network, the group I founded, has affiliates or chapters in over 40 cities around the country.
While the rest of the country waves the flag of Americana, we understand we are not part of that. We don't owe America anything - America owes us.
We're going to use this Amadou Diallo case to stop this in these United States once and for all. Just like we needed the federal government to come into Alabama and Mississippi 30 years ago, we need the federal government to come into New York to deal with the police today.
We want arrests. We want indictments. We want prosecution.
We want all of these policeman to face justice.
Brown became like a father figure to me who insisted I live the life of a monk, let alone a minister. I had to stay in the hotel he stayed in, stay in my room, and he would almost select my girlfriends. He was very adamant that he had promised my mother that I would not go wayward on the road, and he enforced it. So even though I knew the entertainment world, I was not of the entertainment world -- and not by any choice of my own. He promised my mother that he'd make sure I was never on drugs, that I never lost my head, and that he'd take care of me himself. And he did.
Rosa Parks is in history because she made this nation deal with changing the laws and policies of this nation unlike anybody else.
At the Apollo, he asked me to come and stand in for him. He's like my father.
I was very impressed with how mature he was for his age,
I think clearly it was the right thing to do if we're committed to defeating Bloomberg. This shows the strength of our community.