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
Following Michael Brown's death, I went to Ferguson and met with his parents. I stood with them as they tried to hold their heads high and deal with both their immense loss and the larger issues of police-community relations.
As I stood and gave the eulogy for young Michael Brown last week, I kept thinking about the fact that this child should have been in college instead of laying in a coffin.
I wrestled with this, even over the last few days, as I sat and stood and walked in Louisiana, where I saw people ravaged, lives torn. I thought about the fact that we need a man that's strong enough to bring us through 9/11 but compassionate enough that if Katrina hits, will make sure that poor people are not the scapegoats of a natural disaster.
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.
We hope to appeal to all sides to try and have some type of truce or cease-fire. We are not on either side. We are on the side of getting help for the children -- medical care as well for those that have been displaced.
What we want is not a resignation. We want arrests. We want prosecutions.
I do not think the responsible thing to do, as this congressman is doing, is to try and put out a mass panic.